I See Fire (Hollowing Souls)
by siriuslymerlin
Summary: Hiccup wants few things out of life. One: Her father's pride and affection Two: Getting into the DBD program and studying dragon defense Three: Seeing a dragon up close and personal, and maybe killing it with her own inventions Of course, because she has the worst luck in the history of anyone in the world, everything is derailed in a single night, with a single dragon. Genderbent!
1. Chapter 1

Helena Henrietta Haddock III, known to most as "Hiccup" (nasty kindergarten incident—she doesn't talk about it) sits very still and quietly on the bleachers in front of the football field. She's got her calculus homework open on her lap, and is quickly working out as many problems as she can, before Coach Gobber notices she hasn't done the football teams attendance yet. It's not like either of them want her to be here, but she has too, because she needs academic involvement for college applications. If she was pretty or athletic, she could be a cheerleader, or play tennis, but she isn't, so she's here, avoiding placing tick marks next to the names of all the guys at practice.

Eventually, though, Gobber takes notice of her, and calls her down, scowling.

"'ave ya' done the attendance yet, lass?" he asks, Scottish accent coating the words. Hiccup, looking up from her homework, shakes her head.

"I'm just waiting to make sure everyone who's going to show, shows," she explains, offering up her most charming smile. Gobber rolls his eyes, but claps a heavy hand on her shoulder, hiding a smile. His other hand, along with his left leg, end in prosthetic hooks, specially designed for everyday use.

She sighs; this means she actually has to do the dumb attendance now. Last year, when Hiccup began looking at colleges, her father had decided he'd like to try his hand at actual parenting and got really involved with the college search. After pretending to consider some school Hiccup had expressed interest in, he'd picked Harvard, and the two of them looked through their application requirements.

Hiccup's course load was heavy on the sciences, and light on history and English, but she'd persuaded her father to leave it, telling him that she'd done that to assure the best possible GPA possible. Steven, or Stoic to the press, Haddock had his heart set on Hiccup being some sort of politician, despite the fact that was not sociable or charming, or possessed any quality that a good politician ought to have, really.

So, because of the Harvard Pre-law dream, Steven had arranged for some extracurricular boosts. He'd called in a favor from his best friend, Hiccup's godfather Gerard Gobber. Gobber was the pre-DBDI teacher and football coach at Berk High School, Hiccup's school and Steven's alma mater. Now, she was a glorified personal assistant who got athletic credit from walking around, dodging rouge footballs, and taking attendance.

Harvard, here she comes.

Of course, if anyone had bothered to ask what Hiccup wanted to do, she'd say study DBD at the DBD-Institute, like her father. But then, again, it wasn't like anyone cared all that much.

DBD was dragon border defense, the sector of government her father was responsible for. Hiccup knew all about it; she'd been learning about it since she was a little kid. She knew it was founded in 1809, right after the great dragon massacre, which left fourteen towns ravaged and close to twelve hundred people dead. She knew dragons were dangerous creatures, and that they needed to be kept on their sides of the planet. She knew the DBDI, dragon border defense institute, was the best school in North America to study dragons and learn how to keep them away from the general population.

Her father was adamant, though, that she would be attending Harvard to study law, and stay far from anything having to do with dragons. There must've been a reason for it, but Steven had never said. So, now she's here, clutching her stupid little clip board, squinting at the players.

Hiccup skirts around the edges of the field, staying out of the way of the players, and carefully noting who was here and who wasn't. Meanwhile, on the track, the cheerleaders are hard at work, shaking their pompoms and jumping around. Scarlett Jorgenson, the head cheerleader and Hiccups cousin, claps her hands and leads the other girls in a rousing rendition of "we've got spirit!" Among them is Fiona Ingerman, the tallest girl there. She's Swedish, and looks the part too. She has long blonde curls that fall to mid-back, and a frame like an athlete, strong and steady looking. Fiona see's Hiccup looking and flutters her fingers in a little wave. Hiccup waves back. The girls have been friends since they were little, when Fiona was deemed freakishly tall and Hiccup had earned her unfortunate nickname. They were quite close; they had to be, to survive public school together.

But, Fiona got pretty junior year, and lost all her baby fat. Now, she straddles the edge of popularity and loserdom. On paper, she ought to be very popular, but in real life, anyone who talked to her could see how big of a nerd she was. It was part of the reason she and Hiccup got along so well.

Scarlett bounces around, letting her absurdly short skirt swish around her thighs, giving every football player in sight a good look of her long, perfect legs. Her best friend, Tori Thorston follows her lead, bending over to pull her blonde hair into a high ponytail. On the field, the only boys not paying attention were running back Rory Thorston, twin brother of Tori, and Aaron Hofferson, star quarterback. It was pretty ironic, considering Scarlett was Aaron's girlfriend.

Aaron Hofferson was a strange sort of guy. He was cool because of his looks, athletic prowess, and high status girlfriend, but he acted like he didn't want any of that. He was sharp and standoffish, but somehow, it made people like him even more. Girls always fawned over him, and guys went out of their way to make him like them. He didn't really seem to care about anything really, except his sports. The guy played football, hockey, and baseball like his life depended on it. He was captain of every team, and scouts flocked from all over to watch him.

Hiccup didn't like him per say, but she admired his zeal for athletics and his intelligence. He was wicked smart, but it didn't burden his social status like it might anyone else's. In fact, he was one of the smartest kids in their class, second only to her. He's a shoe-in for the DBD program, along with his friends.

Either way, he was still nice to look at. Hiccup settles back in the stands, and works through more calculus, occasionally looking back up when someone yells. Eventually, after what feels like a million years, practice is over, and Hiccup can leave. She hands the attendance sheet to Gobber and hassles him about pre-DBDI a little before heading home, roaring away in her beat up, old jeep.

It's her mother's car, which is why she can't bear to let it go. She figures that's why her father lets her keep it, even if it's more duct tape than metal right now. It's awfully quiet at home, like it always is. Tonight, her father's at headquarters, mostly like monitoring borders and taking preemptive measures.

Hiccup meanders around, bored. She ended up getting her homework done during the practice, surprisingly. She stands outside her father's office, contemplating going in.

She's technically not allowed in there, but that's where all her father's books and dragon resources are. Hiccup looks around, paranoid, even though she knows her father's not home. It's a little messy in here, looking lived in. Books are spread all over the desk, covered in papers. There's a proposal for an expedition right on top of everything, drawing her eye. She sits gingerly in the big office chair and reads it.

It looks like her father wants to venture into dragon territory, to try and find their nest. From what they know currently, dragons hunt in groups, so there must be a central meeting place for them. It sounds dangerous, but incredibly _cool._ Hiccup's always wanted to see a dragon up close and personal, but she's never gotten the chance.

The current plan is to get into pre-DBDI, graduate top of her class, get into DBDI, and impress everyone. The details are a little fuzzy, but Hiccup figures she'll figure that out when she gets to it.

The book underneath the proposal is a general dragon encyclopedia. It's her favorite book in here, so she carefully extracts it, replacing it with _Strike Class: A Breakdown of the Most Fearsome Dragons of Our Age._

She heads outside, workshop in the backyard. It was supposed to be a playhouse, but Hiccup's always been more interested building her little machines than playing house with her non-existent friends.

Currently, it's a mess of metal and blueprints. Right now, she's got plans for a hydro pressured net launcher, which calculates the velocity, force, and angle of the launch itself, depending the dragon. Theoretically, it should work, because she's "borrowed" the DBD dragon knowledge database and used it to program the machine. After that, it was simple calculations and a quick error-minimizing program. It should work, but she has no way of knowing, considering she's sorely lacking testing subjects.

"Helena!" Her father's voice scares her, and she jumps, knocking over a tray of nuts and bolts. The little metal bits scatter everywhere and she sighs, jogging back inside.

"Dad? What are you doing home?" She asks, slipping through the backdoor. Her father moves like a whirlwind, throwing things into his bag. The office door is open and there are papers everywhere.

"Stay inside. Get in the basement and _stay_ there until I ask you to come out, understand?" Steven's not really looking at her, instead, busying himself with strapping a holster to himself. That can't be good.

"Why? Is there a dragon raid? What's going—"

"Do you understand?" Steven asks, more forcefully this time. Hiccup bobs her head yes, but rushes over to help nonetheless.

"Listen, I've come up with this cool new weapon, okay? It's like a net launcher, but you don't have to do any work! It calculates everything for you, you just have to hit a button. I have it set up so—"

"Helena, I don't have time for this! Basement! Stay!" With that, Steven rushes out the door, leaving his daughter dazed, and a little bit hurt. She watches her father leave, scowl blooming on her face.

There's a flash of light, grabbing Hiccup's attention. She rushes to the back door, face pressed against the glass. Something big flies out of her field of vision, and she trips over herself to get outside and get a good look.

There's an unearthly shrieking, jarring Hiccup, and she knows.

Nightfury.


	2. The Dragon Battle

**A/N: Hi guys! Thanks for joining me and reading! Chapter title is from the movie soundtrack.**

Hiccup simply stands there, astounded, for a few seconds before she remembers what that noise means. She stumbles back inside, leaning against the doorway, sticking her head out as far as she dares.

There's a blast of light, almost too blue for her to see, and searing heat she can feel all the way down here. She follows the line of fire and thinks. There's a ravine a little way past the property, leading down to a small, but deep pond. She grew up down there, catching frog and hunting for trolls on the banks. It's a beautiful place, so serene and untouched, so she'll be damned if she lets a dragon ruin her special place.

With a renewed sense of determination, she runs to the shed, hauling out her net launcher and calibrating the settings. She's never gotten a chance to fire this thing, but she's excited to try. She sets up halfway to the ravine, almost at the edge of her backyard, and crouches, waiting.

"Come on," she mumbles. "Give me something to shoot at."

Like it heard her, the nightfury streaks past, a blur of inky black. Hiccup slams on the release button, thrown backwards by the kickback. There's another piercing sound, this time sounding suspiciously like a wail, and it's gone.

The night is silent and the skies are clear. Hiccup scans the area desperately, astounded. She hit something. She hit a _nightfury._

"Yes!" she crows, leaping to her feet and dancing around. "I hit it! Oh, my god!"

"HELENA!"

"Oh, crap." Steven grabs her by the arm and roughly drags her back, ignoring his daughter's protests.

"What did I tell you?" he hisses, voice tight and barely controlled. Hiccup winces. All she has to do is get her dad to come with her to the ravine, where she'll show him the dragon, and he'll be proud of her, all anger forgotten.

"To stay inside—"

"The basement. I said stay in the _basement."_

"Okay, but dad, it worked! My launcher actually worked and—"

"How could you think going outside when there was a raid warning would be a clever idea?" He rages, clearly not listening. "Didn't I raise you better?"

"Dad, I'm sorry, but listen, I did it! It works!"

"Is that all you care about? Your stupid little machine? More than your own life?" The questions hang heavy and awkward in the air, prompting a silence.

"Okay, but I hit a nightfury." Hiccup tells him, voice rushed and quiet. That seems to really do it, because Steven lets out a yell and tears at his hair.

"When are you going to grow up? You're not playing knight out here, this is life and death!" Steven yells. "When will you understand?"

"Dad, I—"

"Enough! You answer back at me every time I talk! You never listen! Now, go!" His words are final, and Hiccup shrinks into herself.

"How am I meant to do anything if I spend all my time worrying about you?" Steven asks, voice pleading. Hiccup doesn't answer, instead running up the stairs, fighting back tears. She manages to make it all the way to her room before she crumples against the door, choking on her sobs. Hot tears drip steadily down her cheeks, and she fights to keep herself silent. After a few minutes, she manages to pull herself up and lock the door.

Hiccup drops pathetically on her bed, crying quietly. Her eyes grow heavy and her throat goes raw, before she drifts off to sleep.

The nest morning, Hiccup wakes to her alarm blaring loudly. She glares at it, willing it to stop. After stumbling through her morning routine, stopping to smear concealer under her eyes, she pulls the door open and trips abruptly.

Hiccup groans, rubbing her soon to be bruised knee. Behind her lays a broken teacup, cold tea seeping into the carpet. Guilt sears through her; maybe she should have stopped and talked to her dad last night, apologized or something.

It doesn't matter now, she thinks, not when she'll be showing her father the nightfury, how she'd captured it and taken care of it.

Hiccup focuses on that, the fact that she'd soon earn her father's pride, instead of how she would have to do it. Trapping pests and letting them go, humanely, was one thing, but that was simply too dangerous to do with a dragon. There was no promise it wouldn't kill you right then and there, or come back with its buddies.

She'd seen the movies in class, she knew what dragons were like. This was something she had to do.

Hiccup walks solemnly into her workshop, looking for the right tool. There are garden shears tucking the corner. They look old, but sharp, so she takes them. Her hands shake.

The trek through the ravine is longer than she remembers, which might be due to her careful steps. There used to be a time where she'd fling herself down to get to her special spot quicker. Now, she dreads it.

Close to the valley, Hiccup settles herself behind a fallen tree, clutching her shears tightly. She can see it, maybe twenty feet from her, on the banks of the pond. It brays mournfully, and Hiccup's chest goes tight.

"Okay, Hiccup, don't screw up. Do this for you father, for your species," she mumbles. With that she stalks purposefully towards the dragon, shears held aloft. It looks up at her with big, green eyes.

 _Please._

Hiccup gasps, stumbling a little. She's quick to gain her footing back. Did the dragon just say please? She can't recall a noise though, just the thought. It looks up at her, no fear in its eyes, only resignation. She understands what that please meant now. Her throat goes tight and she lowers the shears, until the hang from limp fingers.

Hiccup's heart pounds wildly and the dragon waits for its death, praying for something swift.

Then, suddenly, like her fingers are moving of their own accord, Hiccup starts slicing through the netting, struggling against the enforced rope. She can't do this, she's no killer. It's a strangely freeing thought, though she's never thought of anyone in the DBD as killers. Some of the binds fall free with a snick, loosening the ropes considerably.

With zero warning, the dragon is on her, pinning her to the ground. It leans over her, and there are no words Hiccup knows to even begin to describe the state of fear she's in. The dragon snarls at her, revealing razor sharp rows of teeth, something akin to a shark's.

It stares at her for a moment, a fraction of a second, and Hiccup know, she can feel it deep, that this dragon won't hurt her. Their life debt is repaid. Instead, it _screams_ at her, an angry, pent up sound of rage, before leaping over her and bounding away.

For several minutes, Hiccup has to manually remind herself to breathe, and wait for her heart to restart.

Dragons will kill anyone who got close enough, they are heartless killing machines. She'd been told that her whole life, and yet…

"So, why didn't you?" she wonders aloud. Somewhere, off in the distance, the dragon shrieks and Hiccup runs, pushing to get her house.

Later that night, Hiccup moves mechanically around her kitchen, pulling ingredients together for dinner. She's not even sure what she's making, mind still on the dragon she let loose. Panic flairs through, for the fifth time that day.

Oh, god, what has she done? She just let loose one of _the_ most dangerous dragons in the world. She's responsible if that dragon lays waste to the town.

"Helena, I wanted to talk to you." Hiccup lets out a little shriek of fear, before pulling herself back together and turning to face her father.

"Dad, before you say anything, I want to say you were right. About everything. I don't want to go into DBDI, I want to study law at Harvard, I promise I'll do everything I can to get in, but I can't kill dragons," she tells him, words spilling out over each other. As usual, Steven doesn't hear a damn word his daughter says.

"But you will! You'll see! We can get you into weapons development, like you always wanted! You just need some direction, and guidance," Steven decides, patting Hiccups shoulder. She frowns.

"Dad, you're not hearing me, I can't kill dragons! I know this because I—"

"This is final, Helena. I've already spoken to Gobber, and you're going into the pre-DBDI class, starting next week!" Steven stoops to look at his daughter, gripping her shoulders carefully. "It's okay to be frightened. But you're a Haddock, and we're the best dragon killers in the world. Always have been. You just let the blessing of our ancestors carry you through."

"Dad…" Hiccup trails off, unsure of what to say anymore. Steven grins at her.

"Make me proud, lass. I'm off, there's a board meeting I cannot miss. Love you, be good!" With that Steven heads out the door, having successfully ruined Hiccup's life. Her appetites' gone so she goes to bed, still thinking of the dragon.

She realizes belatedly that her father's a killer. Hiccup spends the rest of the night puking.

The nest morning, she forces herself to go to school, mumbling excuses to her teachers when they ask where she was. All day, she feels like a ghost, not really here. She doesn't even answer any questions in physics. She sits in woodshop, sanding down some pieces for a prop the drama department need when she decides.

She's going back. She's going to see it again. If it tries to kill her, then she'll do pre-DBDI, but if not… then she's really screwed.

"Pay attention, lass!" Gobber chides her, walking through the machinery to inspect everyone's work. "Ya' look a million miles away, 'iccup. Wha's going on?"

"Oh, you know, crushes, make up, girly stuff," Hiccup says, pulling the wood away from the sander before she destroys it.

"Your da' told ya' about pre-DBDI, huh?" Apparently, Gobber can read minds now. She wonders if she can talk to him, just come clean about everything. But then she remembers what he teaches and the idea is banished.

"I'm not cut out for this. You know that, make him understand, he listens to you—"

"This was my idea. Your very bright, lass, but ya' don' 'ave any direction! No focus. If we could just channel that big brain of yours, we'd be golden!"

"Gobber—"

"Do ya' trust me?"

"… yeah."

"Okay! Then report to the gym at 6 pm sharp on Tuesday night!" There's a terrible grounding sound, which drags Gobber's attention away.

"Oi! Be careful, ya' great dunces!" Derek "Bucket" Danvers and Peter "Mulch" Johnson hastily tug their binders out of the saw. Hiccup hides a laugh behind a cough.

She'll decide tonight, but for now, she focuses on the wood.

 **A/N: Hi! Hope you enjoyed! Please let me know what you thought, whether you have a comment or criticism. I'll be back next Tuesday with the next update!**


	3. The Downed Dragon

**A/N: Hi guys! Thanks for stopping by, hopefully you enjoy this update!**

When Hiccup gets home from school that night, she deliberates and wastes time in the living room for about two hours, doing homework even though she's weeks ahead of the syllabus is almost every class.

Finally, at six, she strides purposefully to her shed and starts gathering her materials, ignoring the way her heart beats almost erratically. She stalls for a few more minutes, trying to decide what to bring. In the end, she decides on a sketchbook, some charcoal pencils, and a kitchen knife, in case things go bad.

She makes her way back to her hiding spot, where she'd observed the creature the last time, and waits, trying to see if it's left. If it has, she can get down there and study the scene, try to find any evidence of carnage.

Just as she's about to get down there, she's stopped an unearthly shriek. She clutches her ears, gasping a little. Hiccup dives back down to her hiding spot, peeking out just enough to peer into the valley.

It's still there, for some reason. She jerks back in surprise when claws scrabble at the walls of the ravine closest to her. It doesn't get any purchase though, and falls back down. Hiccup rushes to the edge, thoughtless, and stares down.

The beast looks back up at her reproachfully, like this is her fault somehow.

"Why don't you just fly away?" she asks, like it can understand her. It levels her with a glare before opening its mouth, light filling the orifice. Hiccup has just enough time to duck before a glowing purple fireball flies over head, land thankfully on a rocky path. With nothing to burn, the fire fades quickly.

She crawls carefully to the edge of the ravine and peeks down. It's focused on the pond now, snapping at the surface, trying to catch fish. She pulls her sketchbook and a pencil out of her back, getting started on a rough sketch.

After about an hour, as the sun starts to fade, Hiccup finishes up, and starts making her way back, confused as ever. What's wrong with? Why won't it fly away?

She puts her things away and heads back inside just as her father comes back.

"Helena! I wanted to have a word with you," he says, coming over to pat her on the shoulder. It's more of a thump, because Steven is huge and his affections was always careless, if not nonexistence.

"Hey dad, what's up?"

"Listen, I know I'd promised to see you off to training on Tuesday, but I can't anymore, I'm sorry." He looks at her sadly. "My proposal got granted, and I'm leading an expedition to the dragon lands."

Hiccup stares up at him, shocked.

"That's, dad that's going to be _dangerous."_ Steven pulls his daughter into a quick hug.

"Don't worry about me," he tells her. "You just focus on pre-DBDI, alright? You make me proud."

"Sure dad," she says, guilt bubbling deep in her stomach. She tries for a smile.

"Good lass, now, I have something for you," Steven tells her, smiling broadly. He hurries to the office, rooting around, before emerging triumphantly with an ornate looking case.

"Go on, open it, it's for you." Hiccup carefully undoes the latch, pulling the heavy lid up. Sitting on a plush, velvet pillow is her mother's helmet, beautifully made in beaten copper and steel, fused together to make enchanting patterns all over the helmet. Hiccup's throat closes and tears fill her eyes. It's an old thing, coming from a time when people used to go out and fight dragons themselves, but it meant everything to Val.

"Val loved this thing, you know, not near are much as she loved you, but she loved it." Her father's voice is uncharacteristically soft. He brushes back Hiccup hair tenderly, and tears spring up in her eyes.

"I know I've been harsh over the years, but I've been scared of losing you. But know, you're ready." Hiccup can't help the tears that slip over her cheeks. "I love you, alright. I'll be back in a few weeks, but we'll talk every night."

She's pulled into another careful hug. The moment doesn't last very long, because neither of them are very good at emotional stuff. Hiccup sees her father out and stands on the front porch, waving goodbye.

The dragon weighs heavy on her mind, and the helmets not helping any. She sends a silent apology to her mother before closing the boxing and heaving back into her father's study. Hiccup flops onto the couch, burying her head in her knees.

What the hell is she supposed to do now?

The next day, football fever has swept the school, the promise of the first win of the year hanging sweetly over everyone's head. Varsity players proudly wear their jerseys and cheerleaders wear they're uniforms, and everything in the kingdom of high school is peaceful. Scarlett and her gang of mean girls leave people alone today, gracious for once.

Hiccup sits at her regular lunch table, nibbling on her sandwich and going through her meager Nightfury notes. Amazingly, the whole of the internet doesn't have much on nightfuries, just the same old stuff she's already learned at school.

"Hey Hiccup!" She jumps at Fiona's voice, but clears her notes to leave room for the girl.

"Hey. Ready for the big game?" she asks, unable to help letting a little sarcasm taint her words. Fiona rolls her eyes, tugging her skirt back into place.

"We have, like, 96.57% chance of winning, considering we're playing the Greenberg Berserkers. We've got at least +12 strength on them, and +7 ability, cause Aaron's gotten so good over the summer— "

"I hate to interrupt your, er, fact vomit, but I already know we're going to win. We always win the first game," Hiccup says. Fiona nods, looking all too serious.

"Definitely! Hey, did I hear you got into pre-DBDI? I didn't even know you applied!" Fiona asks, eyes wide. Hiccup shrugs.

"Yeah, looks like."

"Well, you don't sound excited. You should be +8 more excited about this."

"Trust me, I'm ecstatic," Hiccup deadpans. Fiona rolls her eyes again, but drops it. Instead, the girls talk about the latest physics class, on radioactive antibodies and their applications.

Hiccup's required to stay after school, to help get things ready for tonight's game. She sighs, hauling some Gatorade pitchers to the field. Eventually, Gobber dismisses her for being too slow, and she's allowed to sit on the sidelines and get some administrative work done. The team runs through it's warm up once the band's finished rehearsing their half-time show, and Hiccup gets the fun task of marking people down for attendance.

They go off to the locker room to get ready and suffer through a Gobber speech, so Hiccup is free to get some homework done, for once. The stands start to fill up quickly, the student section a blur of red and black. The general population files in, filling up the rest of the stands. Hiccup can hear the band marching through the parking lots, headed for the field.

The go through their pregame, arranging themselves in the shape of the flag and playing the national anthem, and then the school song as the football team storms the field. Aaron Hofferson leads the pack, followed closely by Rory Thorston, Bucket, and Mulch. The rest of the team waves and preens in the glow of applause.

The band clears the field and the game starts, kicking off the next few boring hours of Hiccup's life. She lets her mind wander to the dragon, think back on those big green eyes and that strange thought projection.

Predictably, the team wins, and the band starts up another rousing rendition of the school song. Students swarm the field, all looking for Aaron, to congratulate him. Hiccup notes down the score for the database and grabs her stuff, ready to go home.

"Hiccup! Hey, Hiccup!" Fiona calls, running over, pompoms flouncing in one hand. Her high ponytail swings elegantly back into place when she stops, bedazzled bow glinting under the stadium. "Listen, there's this party tonight, at Scar's place. Do you want to come too?"

"Uh, you know, I have a ton of homework to get through, but you go. Have fun," she lies, stepping back. Fiona blinks at her, mouth parting slightly in surprise.

"Oh! Oh, okay, good luck with your homework, I'll see you later," Fiona responds, crossing her arms. "I better get back."

"Yeah. Good game though, nice… cheering." Hiccup winces at her words, but Fiona smiles softly.

"Thanks, Hiccup. I'll see you around," she says, pulling Hiccup into a quick hug before flouncing off to her friends. In the end, Hiccup _does_ go home and go through some homework, before she opens the dragon books back up again to compare to her notes.

It's two AM before she realizes that the dragon in the valley is there because it's trapped. It's missing a tailfin, she notices. It's four AM before she calls it a night, heading up to bed, leaving her notes in a disarray on the kitchen counter.

Hiccup wakes the next morning to an onslaught of text messages, from Fiona. It clearly shows she got drunk last night, because her texts steadily lose comprehensibility as she scrolls through them. Mostly, it's Fiona raving that the party was EPIC, written just like that, in all caps. Hiccup rolls her eyes.

Downstairs, as she's fixing herself a cup of coffee, she looks over some of the preliminary designs for an addition tailfin prosthetic. Making it won't be too difficult, because she has rough measurements, but fitting it and testing it could prove to be fatal. Still, she has to try.

The weekend blurs past in a blaze of dragon work, crafting the tailfin and researching. She does end up going to the mall with Fiona, because the cheerleader needs new shoes, and wanted Hiccup to come. It's strange to hear Fiona talk about her new friends in the same analytic way she talks about everything, but Hiccup comes to learn that Tori has +9 agility but only +2 focus, Laura Cho has a 79.54% chance of getting into Harvard, Mia Santiago has a kick height of nearly 6 feet, and that her own cousin, Scarlett, has never once acknowledged Hiccup.

"I mean, it's not like she's trying to be mean, but she got all weird and defensive when I asked about you," Fiona tells her, clutching her shopping bags close. "It's not a big deal."

Hiccup shrugs, and tries to shove the knowledge away.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you thought in the reviews, any comments or criticisms you may have! See you guys next week!**


	4. Dragon Training

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I'm late, but I have an excuse! I just moved back to my house from school and started a new job, so time is a little scarce. Still! The updates will come! Expect another one on Tuesday, as scheduled. For now, enjoy the latest installment.**

Monday morning, she pulls into the school parking lot a little late. She's lost herself in dragon research, and hadn't realized she had exactly four minutes to make the ten-minute drive to school. She parks haphazardly, and stumbles out her car, snagging on the seatbelt. She runs into the school, headed for the main office to get a late slip, when she collides with something. Hard.

Hiccup wheezes, sprawled over the floor, book bag a few feet away from her. She pulls herself up shakily, rubbing a soon to be bruise on her elbow. Her eyes go wide when she sees who she hit. Aaron Hofferson sits across from her, rubbing the back of his head, face pinched up in pain. He glares at her, and hauls himself up.

"Watch where you're going, freak," he snarls, stomping indignantly past her. Hiccup sits there for a moment longer, before gathering herself and walking to the main office, slowly this time. She slides into her trig class halfway through, burning in shame under the concerned look Ms. Davis shoots her.

By lunch, the bruise on her elbow has progressed to a dull gray, and throbs meanly. She picks at her lunch, waiting for Fiona to drop by.

"Hiccup! I heard what happened this morning!" Fiona cries, in lieu of a greeting.

"Hey, Hiccup! How are you? Oh, me? Just peachy, how about you?" Hiccup deadpans, running a hand through her messy, auburn hair. Fiona rolls her eyes and takes a seat.

"I heard you knocked Aaron over this morning, like crashed into him. People are talking concussions!" Fiona informs her, entirely serious. Hiccup snorts.

"Look at me, Fi, I'm ninety pounds, and five foot two. There's no way I could knock Aaron into a concussion," she reasons, ripping a piece of sandwich off and popping it into her mouth. Fiona considers, clearly doing some mental calculations.

"True. Doing the math, there's no way you could produce the velocity, or the force, to cause this much damage. You're simply not strong enough," Fiona concurs. Hiccup rolls her eyes.

"Great. Thank you."

"Although, he is acting odd," Fiona muses, adjusting her pony tail. Hiccup frowns, mulling this over. Aaron Hofferson never acts strangely, never does anything out of the ordinary. He's pretty much perfect. Hiccup can't even imagine how stifling that must be.

"Maybe he's just nervous about pre-DBDI tomorrow," Hiccup offers, thinking about the notes and designs tacked up on the wall of her workshop. Fiona nods, tugging at her clothes, a nervous habit of hers.

"They say Gobber is a very "hands on" teacher," she says, matter-of-fact. "We're also right next to the best DBDI in the world. Maybe we'll see some dragons." Her voice is carefully controlled, but there's a glimmer of fear in her eyes.

"Maybe," Hiccup agrees. It'd be very useful, to see other dragons and test theories.

"Are you scared?" Fiona asks. She just wants her feelings validated, it seems, so Hiccup nods.

"Terrified."

That night, Hiccup goes through all the books her father has, taking notes, and cross referencing the DBD database. She goes through the syllabus, a hastily put together word document Gobber had emailed them only hours ago.

They're talking about boulder class dragons first, but it doesn't say much more than that. Hiccup packs up her things, looking bleary-eyed at the clock. School starts in a few hours, so she figures she ought to get a little sleep.

There's a workout tomorrow for the team, so she doesn't have to be there, luckily. She can catch a nap, maybe.

Hiccup jerks awake seconds before her alarm, vision filled with dragons, fire, and blood, all surrounding the downed dragon. There are tears in her eyes. Hiccup swipes at them roughly, and hauls herself off the office floor. She rushes to get ready, tripping over the books.

All day, Hiccup is a bundle of nerves, and Fiona's not helping, rattling off facts about pre-DBDI, talking about its history. It used to be so barbaric; they used to make them kill a dragon in an arena, in front of the whole town. Hiccup's not sure if they even have a special ceremony for the top student anymore.

Finally, after school, Hiccup drives home, perhaps a little fast, but when she gets home, she's way too wired to sleep. Instead, Hiccup panics in her workshop, flicking through her notes wildly and breathing too hard. She can't do this, she can't—

Her phone alarm goes off, startling her considerably. She drops her papers, scrambling to turn the alarm off. The drive to the school is silent, and at the speed limit. The parking lot is all but empty, save for a few cars. Up ahead, she can see Aaron Hofferson's black jeep, big and intimidating. Scarlett hops down, fluffing her long, dark hair. She oozes confidence, like she always has, ever since they were little.

Aaron has an air of calm about him, in the way he holds himself. He looks a little like he's ready for a fight. The Thorston twins roll up in their shared car, gaudily duel colored, clearly fighting about driving, even if Tori's behind the wheel. She parks sloppily, and Rory makes sure she knows it. Fiona shows up last, parking close to Hiccup.

They walk into the building together, but as soon as Scarlett and Tori spot them, they run up, eager to collect Fiona.

"Fifi! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you! Come on, I, like, want to get a good spot!" Scarlett decides, pulling Fiona bodily away. The taller girl tosses an apologetic smile at Hiccup but follows them nonetheless.

Rory and Aaron walk together, and Hiccup trails after them, sitting a little bit away from the others on the bleachers in the gym.

"Oi! Wha' are you lot doin' sittin' thar? We're headed off!" Gobber calls, leading the way out to the back parking lot. He waves his prosthetic hand at them, meaning for them to hurry. Outside, there's a DBDI van waiting for them, painted in the DBD blue and black. Everyone piles in, and somehow, Hiccup ends up pressed against the window and Aaron. He pays no attention to her.

When they finally get there, after being subjected to Gobber's terrible driving and road rage, everyone stumbles out, more than ready to get started. They're lead to a classroom on the second floor, in the first building they see.

Gobber lectures about boulder class dragons, their attacks, their strengths, and their weaknesses. Fiona whispers right along with him, excitement shining in her eyes. Scarlett looks a little uneasy, like she's regretting this a little. Neither of the twins pay any attention, but Aaron is giving Gobber his full attention, eyes sharp and focused. It's all stuff Hiccup already knows, so she lets her mind wonder to the plans for a tail fin. She figures she'll need to program something to change the position of the tailfin as the dragon flies, but she'll need to see how it flies, which presents her with a little bit of a problem.

"Alright! Now that ya' know the basics, I reckon it's time to put that knowledge to the test!" Gobber announces, leading them out. They walk through a series of poorly lit hallways and down a few flights of stairs until they're right outside some heavy metal gates. "Now, 'ave I got a treat for you!"

He swipes his badge at the lock and the gates click, drowned out by the sound of the door alarm. Gobber leads them into what looks like some sort of arena, with metal doors all around the walls. Hiccup counts five doors, and clocks some sort of closet to the right of the main door. Gobber enters a number on the pin pad and the door slams and locks shut, startling everyone.

"Now! Ya' may 'ave 'eard, I'm a particularly hands-on teacher," Gobber says, maniacal grin on his face. Hiccup is suddenly on edge, a creeping fear sinking into her stomach. Fiona gasps.

"This is the Rutherford arena, so named for Rutherford Haddock, who killed thirty dragons in his life, and founded Berk," Fiona recites. "There are dragons here, for research."

"Exactly! And we get to meet some of them!" Everyone stares at Gobber, stunned into silence. A quiet, emotionless part of Hiccup's brain tells her this is a fantastic opportunity to study different types of dragons, maybe perfect the tailfin design. The louder, more panicked part of her brain informs her she's going to die.

"Wait! Don't you think we should know more? Like, before we face a dragon?" Scarlett demands, voice hysterical.

"What's in there, Coach?" Aaron asks, nodding to the wooden closet.

"Well spotted, lad! In there, you will find some useful tools to protect yourselves. Now, bear in mind this is a defense course, so find tools to help you _defend yourselves only!"_

Everyone scrambles to the closet, with Aaron in the lead. Shields, designed to look archaic, are pulled out and fought over.

"Don't delay! Be on your guard! Protect yourselves and each other!" Eventually, Hiccup grabs up a shield. It's made of metal, but has a carbon compound insulation all around it, making it fire proof. It's a pretty decent shield, she notes.

"Watch yourselves!" With that, one of the door swing up and an honest to god _dragon_ flies out. Everyone screams and dives for cover, scattering in all directions.

"Alright! How many shots does a gronckle have?" Gobber calls.

"Six!" Fiona pipes up, voice high with fear.

"Right you are! One for each of ya'!"

The gronckle dives towards Fiona first, who yelps and gets her shield up at the very last minute. The dragon lobs a fireball at her, knocking the girls backwards. Fiona lies there, groaning, but no one goes to check on her, too terrified to move.

"Now! Think about the what we discussed in class! What are some of the weaknesses of the gronckle? What can't it stand?"

"Its senses are all interconnected," Fiona groans. "None of them can function independently."

"Noise!" Aaron decides. "We make noise and throw the thing off! Then we force it back into its cell." Everyone starts yelling, banging on their shields. Hiccup takes a moment to observe the dragon, watching how it shakes its head, confused and enraged. It's flying becomes shaky, and swerves, spitting another fire ball. It lands on Scarlett's, who screams again, louder this time, stumbling back and crumpling up by Fiona. The dragon growls at them, and charges the twins, who jump apart, hollering all the while. The dragon shakes it head, clearing it, and takes the twins out, pinning them to the wall with fireballs. Hiccup backs carefully away, inching closer to Aaron.

"Guess it's just you and me, huh?" she observes, keeping her voice low. There are only two fireballs left, and all they have to do is wait out the dragon. If the work together—

"Nope! Just you!" Aaron yells, catching the dragon's attention, then rolling away. It shoots another fireball, knocking Hiccups shield out of her hand.

"Okay, whoa, nice dragon, easy now," she mutters, backing up as the dragon flies forwards, level with her face. She looks at it, really looks it. It looks terrified, a visceral, do-or-die kind of fear. Suddenly, Hiccup knows, this dragon doesn't want to kill her, not really, but it feels like it has to. It hates this life, kill-or-be-killed. Hiccup's heartbreaks for it.

"Whoa, away, ya' scaly beast!" Gobber hooks his prosthetic hand into the dragons mouth and pulls, yanking it away from Hiccup and tossing it into it cage. The door slides shut quickly, but that doesn't stop the dragon from slamming into the door. Hiccup winces at the clang.

"Ya' 'ave to protect each other!" Gobber lectures, turning his eye to Aaron, who looks down reproachfully. "Remember, dragons will always go for the kill. Always."

No, Hiccup wants to say. Not if it has a choice.

 **A/N: And that was chapter four! Let me know what you thought, any comments or criticisms. Thanks for reading!**


	5. Forbidden Friendship

**A/N: Hi guys, long time no update, huh? That's totally just me trying to figure out my schedule, but things have finally calmed down, and as a reward for waiting so patiently, y'all get three rapid fire updates. Enjoy the first one!**

Wednesday morning, Hiccup ditches school and makes the forty-five-minute drive to the open market by the coast. There, she spends way too much money on fresh cod and loads it all into the little cooler in her trunk. Then, she drives all the way back home, taking the long way back and parking her car on the edge of her property, close to the ravine.

It's a real struggle to drag the cooler and her backpack all the way down, but she makes it, gasping and covered in sweat. She slumps against a tree, unseen by the dragon, who's busy trying to catch fish in the little pond. It catches her scent, or the scent of the fish, she doesn't know, but swivels around to look at her.

It growls softly, but there's not much malice in it. It looks a little gaunt, and Hiccup feels terrible. She pulls a fish out of her cooler and steps slowly up to the dragon.

"Hey, there. It's okay," she murmurs, holding the fish out. The dragon creeps towards her, uncertain. It sniffs the fish, decides to take it and skitters back, eying her wearily. Hiccup gets the message and backs up, settling against a rock and pulling her notebook and a pencil out. She takes notes while the dragon eats. Suddenly, shadows cover her and she looks up to find the dragon hovering above her, a curious expression in its face.

"Uh, hey, bud," she says, stowing her notebook away. She feels a little stupid, talking to the dragon, but it sits back on its haunches, like its waiting for her to continue or something. It opens its mouth and starts hacking. For a second, Hiccup is horrified, scared she'd poisoned the dragon or something. Then, even more horrific, it hacks half of the fish back up into her lap.

Hiccup stares at it, confused and disgusted. It's covered in dragon drool, which is slowly seeping into her jeans. She looks up at it, unsure of what to do.

 _Eat._

Hiccups jaw drops, astounded. The dragon didn't say anything, but it communicated with her, like some sort of mind-meld.

"You want me to eat this?" The dragon quirks its head, clearly waiting. "No, thanks, bud."

 _Eat._

It's clearer this time, like the dragon think she has a communication issue. Hiccup sucks in a breath, steels herself, and picks up the fish. She swipes some drool away from its side, and bites down, ripping tender flesh away. She focuses on the dragon, chews quickly, and forces herself to swallow.

"Yum," she says, voice ragged. "Thanks." She tosses the fish back, and the dragon catches it deftly, swallowing it down. She smiles at it, trying to keep the vomit at bay. Amazingly, the dragon's lips peel back, revealing a gummy mouth: a gruesome smile back.

"Weird, you're toothless, but I could've sworn you had…" she observes. Like it understands her, the dragon quirks its mouth up again, this time dropping razor sharp teeth into place. "Teeth."

"Huh! I gotta write this down," she reaches for her backpack. Suddenly, the dragon snarls, and she drops her backpack, startled.

"It's okay, I'm not going hurt you," she promises. Slowly, she empties her bag, and backs off, letting the dragon investigate. It comes closer, nosing around. After a minute, it decides there's nothing dangerous and let's Hiccup back into her stuff, watch her wearily.

"Come here, bud, I got something for you," she says, leading the dragon to the cooler. It growls at it, unsure, but Hiccup opens it up and tips its contents out. The dragon lets out a happy noise and dives in, snapping up fish. She laughs, grabbing her notebook out again and starting in on a new sketch.

Around four o'clock, Hiccup finishes up her notes, and sticks her stuff back in her bag. The dragon comes up to her, watching, like he's studying her, instead of the other way around.

"You need a name, bud," she tells it. "Also, I need to know if you're, y'know…" It quirks its head at her again, not understanding. Hiccup frowns, focusing her thoughts. There's a burst of heat, and then she gets little clips of feelings.

First, there's overwhelming fear, and loneliness, a sense of loss, then determination. There's a sense of freedom, then there's a gaping emptiness. She can literally feel the pain of dragon teeth ripping through her gums. There's a deep instinct of survival, but loneliness too. She feels a determination to assuage these feelings, to search for _something._ Then there's fear again, but something else too, something that fills the hole. It feels warm, like home.

She doesn't realize she's crying until the dragon huffs at her, soft and curious. She swipes her tears away roughly, a little confused as to why she's crying. Hiccup feels like she's being doing that a little too often.

"Toothless," she decides, appraising it, _him._ "Your name is Toothless and I'm going to help you." He dips his head, like he's agreeing, and Hiccup has to smiles.

Over the next week, Hiccup spends as much time as possible with Toothless, bringing him fish and learning more about him. He won't let her touch him; there's still a distrust of humans that runs deep, and Hiccup respects that.

Still, she's learning tons, not just for the tailfin designs, but also about his personality too. He's complex, just like a person, and Hiccup's astounded that she's ever doubted as much. Toothless is very particular, and likes things just so. He's learning to trust Hiccup, though, learning with her.

Hiccup learns that Toothless does not enjoy eel, or any sort of "dangerous" fish. Toothless learns that Hiccup doesn't enjoy waking up in a ring of fire when she naps, even if it keeps her warm.

Today, Toothless took offense to her pen, and she had to toss it into the pond to keep him happy. She sits on a rock by the pond, sketching Toothless in the sand. The dragon creeps closer, observing her.

"It's you," she tells him. "I would've made it better, but _someone_ made me throw my pen away." The dragon sniffs, like it's not his fault, and peers down at the sketch again. He looks around, then stomps off, ripping a branch from a tree. Toothless drags it around in the sand, while Hiccup watches. Once he's done, he sits back on his haunches, admiring his work.

While it doesn't look like much, it means everything. It means he's learning, that he's far more intelligent than anyone could've predicted. She takes a step closer to him, but startles and freezes when he growls. She looks down, to find she's stepping on one of the lines Toothless has drawn. Slowly, she withdraws the foot. The dragon purrs. She steps down again, and Toothless snarls at her.

Okay, she can work with this. Carefully, she maneuvers herself around, not daring to step on his drawing. She cranes her neck, trying to figure out what he's drawn. While it looks like a series of scribbles, she feels like it might be more.

Somehow, she maneuvers herself directly in front of the dragon, within touching distance. Hiccup extends her hand, but stops short when Toothless narrows his eyes. She gulps, leaving her hand there, and flinching away, waiting.

Miraculously, Toothless dips his head, leaning against her palm. He's warm, of course, but soft and smooth. She looks up, amazed. Toothless has his lips peeled back, in his horrifying little smile. He learned that from her, she recalls with pride.

 _Toothless._

"Toothless," she agrees.

Monday morning, Hiccup moves through her kitchen, content. She's finally finished the tailfin design, and tonight, she's going to put it together, after she visits Toothless. He's warming up to her, she can tell. Yesterday, he let her lean against him and work on the tailfin design, while he plowed through the fish he'd caught.

Toothless was getting accustomed to the valley, which motivated Hiccup to work harder. She wanted him to be free, not matter how she felt after seeing him go.

At school, her good mood prevailed, much to the curiosity of Fiona.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" she asks, picking through her lunch. Hiccup works to hide her smile.

"I got some designs done last night," she explains. Fiona grins, understanding the sentiment. While Hiccup likes to build, Fiona adores coding and programming, and she's crazy good at it too. She understands the feeling of accomplishment that comes with finishing a new project.

"Awesome! Anything I can help with?" Hiccup's smile falters. There's no way Fiona would understand this, not really. She'd try and get Hiccup some "help."

"Uh, no. But hey, my dad called last night!" She changes the subject, knowing how much Fiona loves hearing about DBD news.

"Yeah? What did he say?"

"Oh, you know, not much success, everything is cold, dragons everywhere, that kind of thing," she says, abridging the conversation. In reality, when Steven had called, he'd spent an hour talking about trekking through dragon country, and about killing the dragons that got in their way. Hiccup had ended the phone call as soon as she could, lying about homework.

'That's so cool! You're so lucky to have your dad," Fiona gushes. "Oh! Did you do the pre-DBDI homework? For class tomorrow?" Hiccup nods, jerking her head to her backpack.

"It's almost done." For the upcoming lesson, Gobber had assigned a two-thousand-word essay on the Deadly Nadder, on its strengths, weaknesses, and class. It was pretty easy to do, and all she had left was the references and work sited page.

"I finished mine this weekend, but I have to edit it down, I'm have, like, thrice the word limit," Fiona complains. Hiccup laughs, and the girls launch into a discussion about the dragon, and whether or not Gobber will take them down to meet it.

Hiccup sits through another boring football practice, banging out her English essay, while also taking attendance. At the end of practice, when she goes up to hand the attendance sheet to Gobber, he stops her.

"Ya' alright, lass? You've been lost in yer head all day," Gobber asks her, shooting her a concerned look. He's got a mesh bag of footballs hanging off his arm hook; Hiccup watches it, avoiding answering.

"Uh, yeah, just that my dad called," she explains, shrugging and tucking some hair behind her ear. Gobber nods, understandingly.

"He doin' alright?" He peers at her carefully, and for a horrifying moment, she's convinced Gobber knows, like, _everything._ She shakes the thought off.

"Sure, sure, killing dragons, taking names, hero business." The words feel disgusting in her mouth, leaving her grimacing. Gobber nods again, mulling over her words.

"Sounds like Steven. Listen, tomorrow's lesson is going to be a doozy, so finish yer essay," he says, thumping her on the back. With that, Hiccup heads home, rolling out her shoulder where Gobber's hand fell too heavily. She really needs to get stronger.

 **A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed! Let me know what you thought, any comments or criticism. See you tomorrow for update 2.**


	6. Focus, Hiccup!

**A/N: Just as I promised, rapid fire update 2! Enjoy!**

Tuesday morning, Hiccup wakes up in the valley, curled up against Toothless. She'd been chattering to him, about the tailfin design, and how it might be ready soon, if she can find the right fabric for it.

"Oh, crap!" she curses, scrambling to gather her stuff. The dragon looks at her reproachfully. "Sorry, bud, I gotta go!"

Hiccup runs all the way up the ravine, which is a _terrible idea._ She has just enough time to brush her teeth and grab her backpack before jumping in the car and driving at breakneck speeds to school.

She slides into class to a chorus of snickers, self-consciously patting down her wild, birds-nest hair. Rory Thorston shoot her an odd look.

By lunch, she's tracked down the spare hairbrush she keeps in her locker and tames her insane mane.

"There you are!" Fiona flounces up to her, wearing her cheerleading warm ups. "I heard about this morning. People said you looked like you were rolling around outside before you came to class or something. What happened?"

"I was… camping," she lies, yanking her brush through a particularly tangled snarl. Fiona scoffs.

"Seriously, what were you doing?" Hiccup shrugs, tossing her hair up, similar to Fiona's.

"I told you, camping. I was doing some work outside, and I guess I feel asleep in my backyard."

"Work for your super secret new project?" There's a layer of hurt in Fiona's voice that makes Hiccup's blood boil a little.

"Are you mad at me?" she demands, whirling around to face her, hands on her hips. Fiona shrugs, looking down.

"I feel like you never want to spend time with me anymore," she explains. Hiccup's jaw drops.

"Me? You're always busy with your little _cheerleaders!_ " she jeers, throat closing. Jesus, please don't let her cry.

"Don't! I always ask if you want spend time with us and you never do! Why can't I be friends with you and the squad?"

"You're not even trying! And besides, you're selling out to be with them! Look at yourself!" Fiona stands there, shocked and hurt, tears filling up her eyes. Instantly, Hiccup feels terrible.

"Fi… I didn't—"

"Whatever. It doesn't matter. I'll see you later." With that, she's gone, leaving Hiccup alone in the bathroom. The bell rings then, so she swallows her tears and heads to class, ignoring the painful throb of her throat.

Fiona keeps throwing hurt looks at her, all through their shared classes, so Hiccup keeps her head down. Finally, the school bell rings and Hiccup all but sprints out, intent on getting home so she can shower and maybe cry a little.

Of course, because she's not allowed to a have a second to herself when she needs it, the phone rings. She picks it up with a sense of apprehension.

"Hello?"

"Helena? How are you, lass?"

"Hey dad, I'm good. How's the hunt going?"

"Just fine! Thing's going according to plan. Can't say too much, but we're getting close! How's pre-DBDI going? Did you like Gobber's little surprise?"

"Sure, sure. It's… going. I'm still alive, so there's that." Steven barks out a laugh, the line crackling a little.

"You'll be fine, you're in good hands. Just think, you're the only pre-DBDI class in the country that gets hands on experience like this!"

"Yeah…" Hiccup trails off, unsure of what to say. On the other side, Steven quiets too.

"Well, I'll leave you to it. Be good."

"Will do. See ya, dad." She hangs up the phone, feeling drained. Hiccup drags herself upstairs and hits the showers, mentally preparing herself for tonight's lesson.

Hiccup ends up running a little late, catching the rest of the class outside, as they're loading up the van.

"Yer late, lass," Gobber says, taking her essay. Hiccup drops her head.

"Sorry, I lost track of time and my dad called, so.." Gobber rolls his eyes, but gestures for her to get on. Fiona, Tori, and Scarlett all sit in the back, chattering to each other. Scar turns her eyes to Hiccup as she climbs in.

"Nice of you to show up, Haddock," she sneers. Hiccup mutters something incomprehensible as she settles into her seat, again pressed against Aaron. Everyone laughs, sans Aaron and Gobber. Aaron shoots her an inquisitive look, unimpressed.

As they trek through the halls of the DBD, Gobber lectures them about the Deadly Nadder, talking about its strengths and abilities.

"Now, the thing to remember is, this is a tracker class dragon. Who can tell me wha' that means?" He asks, walking backwards to face the class. Predictably, Fiona answers.

"The Nadder has sharp senses, +8 vision, and +18 hearing, but only a +2 sense of smell, so it really doesn't rely on that. It tracks using sight and sound."

"Correct! Now, wha' about its weaknesses? How do you stay alive?"

"The blind spot." Aaron answers; everyone quiets, leaving him room to talk. "You find it, and hide in it. You can take it by surprise."

"Right you are, lad. Now, let's talk defenses." They turn a corner, coming up to the arena. Gobber talks them through its number of shots (4) and the spikes it shoots to make up for it. The door is unlocked and the class files in, apprehensive but excited.

"Gobber, what about flight?" Hiccup asks. The man is busy at the keypad, typing in some sort of code.

"We're in a dome. There's no way the dragon could fly anywhere." He grunts, cursing at the keypad.

"I mean like in the wild. Does flight classify as a defensive tactic or offensive tactic?" She's thinking about Toothless, and whether he'll be okay once she sets him free.

"Dunno, we've never through of it like that. It's part of its survival mechanism. A downed dragon is a dead dragon." Finally, Gobber enters the correct code, and the floor rumbles. Everyone scrambles back, pressed against the wall of the arena. Walls rise up everywhere, creating some sort of maze. The walls are thick, enforced steels, coated with fireproofing. Gobber punches in another code and a second door sounds.

"Grab some tools, before yer roasted!" Gobber reminds them, instigating another wild scramble for shields. Hiccup swoops in and grabs something, pleased to find a shield. Most people have them, but Aaron and Scarlett are armed with axes. Gobber frowns at them but says nothing.

There's a squawk, then a high pitched growls, before a fireball comes shooting out of nowhere. Everyone panics, diving away. Aaron pulls himself up and stares at Gobber.

"What's the plan? What do we have to do?" He demands, shield and axe held high in his hands. Gobber beams.

"Simple! Jus' get the Nadder back into it's cage without it taking you out first! Should be easy enough," he explains. Aaron dips his head, and scans the maze.

"Rory, you're with me. Fiona, Tori, and Scar, take the left entrance. Tap the maze three times if you find it," he instructs. Aaron turns to survey Hiccup, leveling her with a glare. She sighs.

"Okay, cool, I'll just back you guys up then," she gripes, following the boys into the right entrance. Gobber's somehow hefted himself up onto the maze, stun gun in hand. Hiccup follows him.

"So, I was going through some books for the essay earlier, and I noticed there really wasn't much on Nightfuries," she says conversationally. Gobber smirks down at her.

"I should hope not; the assignment was on Nadders."

"Sure, sure, but I was just wondering, if you knew of any Nightfury literature? Seeing as you're the expert?" Another fireball flies overhead, but Hiccup simply dodges it path. The boys rush ahead, silent but ready.

"Focus, 'iccup! You could been hit! Get in there!" Gobber rushes ahead, trying to find the rest of his class. "Faced with a Nadder, best thing to do is to take it by surprise! How do you do that?"

"Blind spot," Aaron whispers. The six of them are all in one part of the maze, though Hiccup hangs back. "On me." The twins both rush ahead, ignoring Aaron, intent on their own glory. The blonde football captain rolls his eyes.

"Hey! Get out of my blind spot!" Tori complains.

"No way, get your own!"

"Ugh, do you ever bathe—ARGHH!" The Nadder spits out another fireball, and the twins tumble over top of each other, tips of their hair singed. They lay there, dazed.

"Um, I think it knows where we are," Rory informs the group. Aaron snarls, and peels off rushing to hide behind another wall. She and Scarlett follow his lead, but Fiona goes left, maybe panicking a little.

"Okay, but is there any research going on nightfuries? Like currently?"

" _Hiccup! Get down!"_ Aaron hisses, gesturing with his axe.

"So, Aaron, I was just saying to Fifi and Tori that I'm working out a lot more now, you know? Mostly, yoga, you know how stretchy I am. You should come over tonight, help me stretch out, since you're so strong." Scarlett strokes a hand up her boyfriend's chest. Aaron tries to knock it away, but she's insistent, and he ends up knocking her axe out of her hand.

Three things happen almost simultaneously.

One: Scarlett screams, and dives for her axe.

Two: Aaron trips over her and falls into Hiccup.

Three: The Nadder finds them.

The Nadder blasts them with its last fire ball, trapping Scarlett behind her shield. Aaron wraps an arm around Hiccup's waist and drags her away, bodily tossing her behind a wall. Hiccup crumples on the ground, breathing hard.

Aaron swings his axe, and the Nadder backs off, snarling at him. Its tail snaps up and on instinct, Hiccup throws her shield. It knocks into Aaron hard, and he cries out, hitting the ground with a terrible thump.

Gobber jumps down from his post, guiding the Nadder back into its cage. Aaron jumps up, anger bright in his eyes.

"What's your problem?" he snarls, advancing on Hiccup. She scrambles to get up, looking for some way to escape. "Is this some kind of joke to you? Our parents war is about to become our own! There are raid warnings almost every week now!"

"I was trying to help, you would've—"

"You don't take anything seriously and just expect to coast through because of who your father is, don't you?"

"No! I don't even want to be here—"

"Then, why are you?" For that Hiccup has no answer, so she simply stands there, feeling incredibly small. "Figure out what side you're on!"

The ride back to the school is nearly unbearable.

 **A/N: Hiccup takes some setbacks. But, now there's only one to go from here: up! Let me know what you guys thought, comments or criticisms. See you guys tomorrow for the last rapid fire update.**


	7. New Tail

**A/N: Hi friends, welcome to the last rapid fire update! Enjoy!**

Wednesday morning, Hiccup seriously considers skipping, but she's already missed two days of school in as many weeks so she sucks it up and goes. Everyone stares at her when she walks in, especially her pre-DBDI class.

Fiona stares at with soft, sympathetic eyes, and somehow, that make everything ten times worse. Her morning classes pass excoriatingly slowly, especially since there's at least one pre-DBDI kid in each of her classes.

During lunch, Hiccup high tails it to woodshop, looking for somewhere to escape to. Gobber sits at his desk at the front of the room, eating lunch and flicking through some papers.

"Hey, Gobber," she greets him, clutching her backpack straps awkwardly. Gobber raises an eye.

"Aren't ya' supposed to be at lunch?" Hiccup shrugs. "Righ' well, long as yer quiet, I suppose." Hiccup takes a seat at her bench at the back of the room, fishing out some materials from her bag. Gobber pays her no mind.

Last night, when she'd gotten home, she launched herself into the tailfin project, and had finally finished the plans for it. She'd ended up at Home Depot, right at closing, begging to make a quick few purchases. The man had let her, after listening to her whine for near twenty minutes.

It turned out, Hiccup didn't have some of the heavy machinery she needed, so she'd brought all her stuff with her—at least most of it.

She manages to work through the skeletal structure of the tailfin before lunch is over. Gobber lets her keep it in his room, and asks no question, though he does raise his eyes. After a couple more horrific class periods, Hiccup is back in the sanctuary of woodshop, safe from the general student body.

Berk High School has one attractive feature, in Hiccup's eyes. It's home to one of the best smithy's in the state, and because she's passed the woodshop and smithy safety course with an A+, she gets to use it.

There's no one in there, save for Hiccup, which is just the way she likes it. She works through the period, forging the metal structure for her tailfin. Just as she dunks it to cool, the bell rings. Gobber peeks his head.

"Oi, it's time for practice," he reminds her. Hiccup nods, pulling the heavy lead smock off and hanging it up. "Although, I really only need ya' for the attendance. Once you get that done, you can come back and finish up yer projec' if ya' like, jus' don' tell anyone I let ya' do this."

"Deal!" With that sort of incentive, Hiccup breezes through attendance, which sort of turns into her being a little bit of a nuisance on the field. Still, she gets it done and handed in to Gobber in record time.

Around 6:30, Gobber peaks back into the smithy.

"Alrigh', I let ya' stay long enough. Off with ya'!" Hiccup gathers her materials, thanks Gobber profusely, and then skips out when Gobber threatens her with losing smithy privileges because of her rambling.

At home, Hiccup spends time putting the tailfin together. At midnight, she realizes there's no flex in the wing, and has to reconstruct it. At two AM, she finally manages to finish it. She sighs, basking in the glow of the finished product. She ends up falling asleep in her workshop, slumped in a chair in the corner, clutching the tailfin.

The next morning is just as hard as yesterday was, but at least today, she's got something to look forward to. She eats lunch in the library, and gets ahead on homework. In woodshop, Gobber looks the other way when she stuffs as much leather as she can get her hands on in her backpack.

Football practice sucks, because whenever she passes, Rory and his band of assholes have taken to pretending to get the hiccups and dying. It's way more annoying than it has any right to be. Aaron Hofferson doesn't join in, but he does glare daggers at her. Great. Just what she needs.

Finally, when practice ends, she rushes home, far too excited. In her workshop, Hiccup cuts the pilfered leather into careful strips, using it and some carabineers to make some attachment mechanisms.

Then, she fills the cooler with some fish and heads off, trekking through the woods. Toothless is basking in the sunlight when she gets, and raises his head in a lazy greeting.

"Hey, bud!" She sings, dragging the cooler over. "I've got a treat for you." She dumps the cooler out, spilling fish everywhere. Toothless rumbles, pleased with her. He bumps his head gentle against her side before diving in. She pulls the tailfin from her backpack.

"Don't mind me, I'll just be minding my own business over here," she mutters, inching closer to the dragon's tail. Toothless pays her no mind, tail swishing happily from side to side. Hiccup reaches forward to grab it, but Toothless looks back at her, so she freezes and throws him a winning smile.

When the dragon is well and truly distracted, Hiccup lunges for the tail, but ends up missing when it twitches away from her. She ends up face first in the sand, grumbling as she pulls herself up.

"Come on, bud, work with me," she mumbles, lunging again. Finally, she grabs onto it, but yelps when it lifts up, taking her with it. Hiccup hangs, fumbling a little, but eventually gets a leg around it, sitting on the tail to keep it down. She grabs the tail fin and gets busy snapping it into place, pulling the structure so its fully extended.

There's a soft click, and Hiccup looks over to find the other side of the tail fin, the Toothless bit, is fully extended. Oh. She forgot to think about the dragon controlling the extension of the fin. She hopes it isn't important.

Toothless is up now, fully aware, but before Hiccup can get off, he starts running. She screams, clutching the tail desperately. The dragon leaps, extending his wings, and catching air.

Hiccup shrieks, holding on for dear life. Their climbing higher and high, but instead of fear, all Hiccup can feel is an overwhelming sense of freedom.

"Oh, my—I did it!" She screams. "We're flying!"

Toothless crows, letting purple flames mark their path. Their coming up on the walls of the valley, climbing higher and higher until—

They're not going to make it.

Hiccup realizes belatedly that the tail fin changes shape, like a steering wheel. Toothless realizes too, and squawks, panicked. Hiccup forces herself further down, grabbing at the tailfin and pushing, to mirror the other side. The sudden, jerky movement, surprises them both, and sends Toothless careening away from the wall.

He shifts the tailfin again, and Hiccup struggles to match it. She can't, though, because it's stuck, and she's really not strong enough for this—

Toothless screams, flapping his wings uselessly. They plummet, and Hiccup's scream is cut off when she plunges headfirst into the icy pond. She's caught on the tailfin, and for a horrifying moment, she thinks they're going to drown, before Toothless rips the fastening apart with quick claws and drags her up.

Hiccup gasps for breath, treading the water for a minute. Toothless skitters out, shaking the water off and lighting a fire. He settles amidst the flames, huffing contentedly at the warmth.

"Yeah!" she crows. "We'll need some modifications, but we're flying, baby!"

She hauls herself out of the lake and settles against Toothless, still warm from his fire. He spits out a fireball, careful to keep it a little away from her, to warm her up.

"Thanks, bud."

The next few days pass in trial and error, until Hiccup realizes he'll need either a neural implant to control the tailfin or a rider. Needless to say, she's going with option two. She ends up having to max out the emergency credit card, buying material, but her dad's gone and it's not like he has access to internet, to check up on her spending.

Hiccup gets to work building a saddle and fixing the tailfin. It takes so much of her time, she actually ends up behind on homework, which is a first for her. Luckily, people are starting to leave her alone, forgetting the pre-DBDI debacle. Everyone except for Aaron it seems.

Aaron levels her with a glare every time she sees him, which is surprisingly a lot. She still spends ridiculous amounts of time in the smithy, but at least Gobber has given up on trying to keep her after she does the attendance for practice.

Friday night, however, they have an away game, and she has to go, no matter how hard she begs Gobber. She sits at the front of the bus, trying to get caught up on homework. A little ways away, Aaron and Rory sit together, chattering about Tuesdays lesson.

"Dude, Fiona says they have zipplebacks and monstrous nightmares!" Rory says excitedly. Aaron chuckles lowly.

"What, you're going to take on the monstrous nightmare? And survive?" Aaron teases him.

"Hells yeah. I'm looking to get a wicked scar out of this."

"Yeah, it's only cool if you get a cool scar."

"Oh, yeah, gotta love that pain," Hiccup mutters sarcastically, unable to help herself. Rory and Aaron poke their heads out from behind their seat, glaring at her.

"Who asked you?" Rory demands.

"The only reason you're still in the game is because I covered you, both times," Aaron reminds her. "I don't know if I'm going to be so gracious next time."

Hiccup nods, wide eyed. She turns back into her seat and ducks her head, refocusing on her homework. One day, because of her big mouth, she'd going to die.


	8. Test Drive

**Ch. 8**

They win the game, of course, and the ride home is quiet. Gobber leans into her seat, concerned look on his face.

"Ya' alright, 'iccup? Being too quiet," he asks. Hiccup smiles, but it comes out more of a grimace.

"Ah, you know, just some school stress. Still struggling with college app essays," she lies. In reality, she had all her applications done at the end of august. All she's waiting on are a couple of letters of recommendations, from a few science teachers and Gobber himself.

"Speakin' of, I'll 'ave tha' letter to ya' soon enough, don' ya worry," he assures her. "I noticed yer spending quite a bi' of time in the smithy recently. Wan' to tell me wha' yer working on?" Hiccup winces.

"Uh, just some pieces for my work shop. I'm putting up a new addition," she tells him, throwing on a charming smile. In true Gobber fashion, he sees right through her. Luckily, he doesn't call her out.

"A new addition." She nods. "Well, if ya' say so." Thankfully, a fight breaks out near the back of the bus, which Gobber has to diffuse.

Finally, Saturday night, she finishes the saddle and tailfin pieces. They fit together beautifully, and Hiccup wants to cry a little. She packs the pieces up in a giant duffle bag and treks down the ravine, to where toothless lays by the pond, fishing.

He snaps up a fish and gobbles it down, coming over to greet Hiccup and inspect her bag.

"It's for you, bud. We're flying today," she tells him. "Now, me being the rider is only temporary until I can figure out something else, something that lets you fly by yourself."

Toothless presses his snout against her side, and she gasps at the sudden rush of warmth in her mind. She sees images of flying, the cool cut of mountain air, and the brilliant warmth of sunshine. There's an overwhelming sense of freedom, but it's not simply that Toothless craves it. He wants to share this with her.

In that moment, they know. Toothless belongs with her just as much as she belongs with him, and they both belong in the sky.

"Let's fly, bud," she says, voice thick with unshed tears.

Getting the saddle on takes longer than she anticipated, because Toothless isn't accustomed to wearing anything, like, ever. He pouts the whole way through and goes limp, leaving her to maneuver heavy dragon limbs into the saddle and tailfin apparatus.

"Come on, you useless lizard!" she grumbles. "Work with me!" Toothless smiles lazily at her, letting his tongue loll out. She rolls her eyes at the petty beast.

"We had a bonding moment!" she complains. Toothless sighs, like _she's_ annoying him, and pulls himself up, helping finally.

"Jeez," she mutters, fishing out a laminated sheet of paper from her bag. "Okay, I've been studying your tailfin movements, and you've got, like, positions, for each movement. It's simple enough, like driving a car."

Toothless shoots her an exasperated sigh, a reminder that he can't actually understand what she's saying.

"All I'm saying, bud, is that this is happening." Toothless grins, jagged shark teeth dropping in excitement. "But first, we practice!" She pulls pegs, clips, and several yards of rope from the bag. Toothless pouts, looking up to the sky. Hiccup laughs, scratching the dragons head.

She sets up a rig that allows them a few feet of altitude, to learn how to use the saddle and tail fin, but keeps them from hurtling into the lake, again. It takes a few days to work out the kinks, but Hiccup's getting pretty good at this riding business. With the help of her position sheet, she can maneuver Toothless into pretty much any position he'll need to fly.

On Tuesday, during dragon training, they're assigned pairs. Hiccup ends up with Fiona, the remaining cheerleaders with each other, and Aaron with Rory. They're surrounded by a thick, green fog of noxious gas, from the zippleback they're supposed to neutralize.

"Now! Today's lesson is all abou' teamwork! A zippleback cannae' survive without it's second half, and today, neither can you! Work together to figure out which head fuels the fire, and which one lighs' it!" Gobber reminds them, lost in the haze of gas.

"Razor sharp, serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion. Prefers ambush attack, by crushing it's victims—"

"Will you stop that?" Hiccup hisses at her partner. Fiona mumbles an apology, but continues rattling off facts about the dragon, much quieter this time.

"I'm, like, totally going to show this dragon who's boss—oh! There!" Equipped with water guns, the two cheerleaders take down the shadowy figure in front of them, dousing it.

"Hey! Watch it, it's us!" Rory hisses at his sister. Tori smirks, unimpressed.

"You're getting fat. I thought you were a dragon," she muses. Scarlett's eyes go wide and she rushes over to her boyfriend's side, indignant.

"They're not fat! They're _ripped!"_ She corrects. Aaron scowls, shaking his girlfriend off.

"Everyone shut up." He snarls. Just then, a dark green tail swipes across the floor, knocking all the athletes to the floor. Fiona and Hiccup unsteadily dodge it, tripping into each other. Tori lets out a scream, then disappears from sight, pulled into the fog.

"Survival is dwindling into the single digits," Fiona mumbles. One of the dragon head slithers forward, startling the girls. Fiona unloads all her water onto it with a squeal, but alas, it only spits out more gas, angry now. Hiccup clutches her water gun tighter, peering around wildly.

"Oops." The other head, already sparking up, comes down to its twin's defense. Hiccup takes aim and shoots, but the water lands pathetically short of the dragon. It looks up at her with an amused glint in its eyes. She rolls her eyes back at it. That seems to anger it, however because the next thing Hiccup knows, two angry dragon heads are advancing.

"Hiccup!" Gobber cries from somewhere. Hiccup, rearing to test a theory, produces a chunk of eel from her jacket pocket, waving it surreptitiously at the dragon. As predicted, the dragon backs up, hissing; at least, one head hisses while the other snarls.

"Back! That's right, now don't you make me tell you again!" Hiccup tells them. "Back into your cage. Now, you think about what you've done!"

Once the gas clears, Hiccup is met with the sight of her classmates staring at her, eyes wide and jaws dropped.

"Righ'" Gobber says weakly. "I think tha' abou' wraps it up. Back to the buses." No one moves, however, so Hiccup does, leading them out. Everyone crowds around her, simply staring at her. Hiccup balks at the attention.

Weirdly, no one speaks on the way home, electing to stare at Hiccup in silence instead. Only Aaron keeps his eyes ahead, a stony expression on his face.

When they get back to school, Hiccup makes for her car, before someone catches her wrist and pulls her back.

"Hey, Hiccup, wanna come out with us? We always get dinner after this," Rory says, voice low and grinning wolfishly at her. Hiccup blanches, but forces on a smile.

"Uh, I've got a ton of homework to get through, so I'm just gonna go," she lies, extracting herself from his grip. Rory shrugs, and even calls out a goodbye, which doesn't even sound mocking.

Aaron narrows his eyes at her, glare still firmly in place.

At home, Hiccup does pulls out her dragon notebook, scrawling in it, noting the outcomes of today's experiment. She'll have to tell Toothless later.

After football practice ends on Wednesday, Hiccup hightails it home, intent on getting some more flying practice in. Toothless whines at the prospect of being on the practice rig, but complies, eager to actually hit the sky.

After some practice, they settle together by the pond, a low fire roaring as the sun beings to set. Hiccup leans against her dragon contently, telling him all about the experiment. Toothless replies back with a memory of other zipplebacks he's seen, out in the wild.

Finally, when the weekend hit, Hiccup decides they're finally ready for some actual flight practice. She ditches the game on Friday, with some lame excuses Gobber totally sees through. At home, she grabs on her father's hiking backpacks from the closet and loads it up, with maps, a compass, a spare pair of clothes, and other outdoor activity essentials.

"Hey, bud! Ready to actually fly?" she calls in greeting when she gets down to the little valley. Toothless bound over, far too excited. He nudges her gently, sharing the memory of his first flight, the nerves and excitement he felt. The feeling spreads through Hiccup, warm and soothing.

Hiccup saddles him quickly, smirking proudly when it only takes a few minutes. It's certainly easier when she isn't wrestling a dragon. Toothless stoops low, waiting for her to clamber on. Hiccup's repurposed a rock climbing harness into a saddle harness, so she fumbles a few minutes, clipping it into place. Lastly, she clips a bike helmet to her head and produces the laminated riding cheat sheet.

"Alright, bud, nice and slowly," she tells him, kicking the tailfin shift into take off position. Toothless rumbles with excitement, and kicks off, with _zero_ regard for Hiccup's safety. They launch into the sky, ripping a scream out of Hiccup's throat. She snatches the first strap she can grab and clings on for dear life.

"Damn it, Toothless! Slow down!" she screams. Instead of listening to her, Toothless kicks it into high gear, flying higher up. Hiccup struggles to catch up, tailfin-wise, which sends them plummeting until she catches them.

Toothless lets out something like a laugh, and exhilaration fills her system, both coming from her and her dragon. They fly hard for a little, luckily going straight, until they see some rock formations.

 _Swerve._

"Yeah bud, I'm trying," she mumbles. Her paper flutters mercilessly, and she can't straighten it out without losing her grip on the saddle.

 _Swerve. Now._

"I'm trying!" They're getting dangerously close now, and Toothless tries to do it himself, twisting his body, but he can't get anywhere when the tailfin stuck on glide.

Then, the absolute worst thing happens.

Her cheat sheet flies away.

Toothless and Hiccup both scream, and she wrenches the tailfin shift hard. Miraculously, they manage to dodge the rocks, banking to the right hard.

"YEAH!" Hiccup screams, kicking the tailfin into a drop. Toothless gets the message and they plummet, faster and faster, until Hiccup yanks them back up, skimming the water. Toothless dips a set of claws into the water, let happiness seep into Hiccup.

It comes naturally to Hiccup, the flying. She's immensely glad she made them practice before taking to the sky.

They glide for an hour or so, before they spy a little island. It's mostly just a rock jutting out of the Atlantic, but they head for it anyways, ready for a break. Terrible terrors scuttle around, all coming out of their hiding places to watch the Nightfury. Hiccup laughs at the way Toothless swats at them, a funny little smile on the dragon's face.

"Everything we know about you is wrong," she muses, watching the dragons play. "You are the furthest things from monsters.


	9. Aaron Goes For a Spin

Days turn into weeks and soon, it's October. Hiccup turns her college applications in with a sense of dread and apprehension, because suddenly, the perfectly boring little life she'd always imagined herself having has dissolved.

Everything feels different now, even school. People stare at her wherever she goes, smiling and calling out greetings. Fiona has suddenly forgiven her, and Tori's decided their best friends now. Rory flirts with her at every opportunity, which is more of a nuisance than anything else. Even Scarlett's deigned to talk to her.

Aaron keeps his distance though, scowling at her from afar. They're neck and neck in dragon training, and it's not even like Hiccup's trying very hard. Mostly, she just trying to subtly show everyone the dragons all have soft spots, that they aren't monsters.

So far, she's had no success. Astoundingly, everyone believes she's some crazy dragon killing prodigy.

If only they knew the truth.

Hiccup makes the trip down to the ravine, which is getting easier, with plans of going for a ride. Maybe Toothless might be interested in some new hunting grounds.

"Hey, bud!" she calls out, grinning as the Nightfury comes bounding over. Toothless licks her cheek in greeting, gurgling happily. "Ready to fly?"

Toothless presses his snout into her hand, showing her a vision of a wooded clearing. It's painted over in nostalgia, and Hiccup lets the fly slide over her.

"Wanna go there?" she murmurs, resting her head against the dragon's. He huffs softly, a yes. With that, Hiccup saddles him efficiently, and Toothless kicks off. They're so in sync nowadays, that flying feels like an extension of herself, as easy as walking.

The flight is quick, and they end up in the middle of an abandoned woods. It's huge, big enough to hide a dragon in, and fenced off. Hiccup remembers when she was little, kids used to dare each other to go in, before one kid simply didn't return. She doesn't remember much after that, police and search parties, but they fenced it off soon after.

People say dragons live here, but it seems deserted. Toothless ambles off, chasing after a rabbit. Hiccup winces sympathetically when he snatches it up and gulps it down. He looks back, smiling proudly.

"That's great, bud. You go on, I'll just check this place out," she tells him, heading off to explore the rest of the woods. She's got her harness still tight around her, so she strips out of it, sighing in relief. Toothless disappears into the trees, but she isn't worried; it's peaceful here. There's a sense of safety in these woods, and Hiccup falls into it easily.

That was her first mistake.

Twenty minutes later, when she makes it to the first fence, Hiccup decides to take a breather, leaning against a tree. She scans the area in front of her, taking in the dirt road and gnarled trees. Then, the unmistakable sound of a car engine fills the air, breaking the serene spell.

Hiccup freezes, too shocked to move. A car comes into view, rumbling down the dirt road. She knows that car. She'd know that car anywhere.

Aaron Hofferson is here.

Hiccup definitely _doesn't_ squawk, launching herself from her position. There's nowhere to hide, because he'll see her in an instant if she hides behind a tree.

However…

Aaron climbs out of his car, scowl on his face, and pull a carrier bag out of his backseat. With amazing agility and grace, he deftly vaults the fence, landing squarely on his feet. If Hiccup were to try that, she'd get a face-full of fence.

He dumps his things on the ground, rooting through his bag before pulling something shiny out. Hiccup twists on her perch, trying to get a better look, before she loses her grip and—

Hiccup lands on her back, wheezing, in front of a startled Aaron, who stands above her, clutching a _knife._

"Jesus fucking Christ!" he swears, stumbling away from her. Hiccup pulls herself gingerly to her feet, grimacing.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Aaron demands, staring at her wide-eyed. Hiccup winces, then offers her best smile, though it might come across a little weak.

"Oh, you know, just hanging out," she tells him. Aaron scoffs, looking around.

"Yeah, right. What're you really doing here? Do you have some sort of tutor, or—or a drug dealer?"

"What? Why would I have a drug dealer?" Hiccup asks, more than a little confused.

"To get good at dragon training," he clarifies, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Hiccup tilts her head to the side, still not following.

"How are drugs supposed to help me with dragon training?"

"I don't know, like steroids or something!" He glares at her, knife still aloft. "Well?"

"Well what?" He's still got that knife, and Hiccup stares at it until he lowers it.

"Steroids! Are you taking steroids?" he demands. Aaron stows his knife in his pocket, which seems terribly dangerous.

"Um, no. Still tiny and skinny. Don't steroids make you bigger?" He scowls at her, looking around.

"What are you doing here?" he asks, stooping to get his bag. He puts the knife back into its actual place, and Hiccup relaxes for half a millisecond before remembering: her dragon is out here. Panic shakes her down to her very core, and her skin grows cold. Aaron's still talking, but she isn't hearing a word he's saying.

"Well?" he demands. She has to get him out of here, like, now. There's a rustling in the trees, and Aaron's head snaps up. "What was that?"

"Nothing! Probably just the wind or something," she says hurriedly. Aaron ignores her, shoving past her and deeper into the woods.

Toothless.

She thinks of her dragon, sweet and defenseless Toothless, and rushes off after him.

"Aaron, wait, stop! You caught me! I'm taking steroids, that's it, you were right! That's why I'm good now!" She grabs him by the shoulders to stop him, but since she hasn't actually taken steroids, and that Aaron's got at least a foot and twenty pounds of muscles on her, it's to no effect. He shushes her, stepping in front.

He's got that knife out again, holding it up, ready for a fight. There's a growl, deep, and strong enough to shake the trees. Toothless. He must think she's in trouble. She and Aaron freeze. He's tensed, for a fight no doubt, but there's no way Hiccup will let it come to that.

"Calm down." She's not sure who she's talking to, maybe both.

 _Stay down._

Toothless creeps forwards, until she can just make out his shape, sleek and dark, hidden in the trees. Aaron lets out a shuddering breath, and crouches slowly.

"Get behind me," he hisses. Hiccup stays where she is, eyes on Toothless. He surveys the scene before them, takes another step forward.

"Hiccup, now. Get. Behind. Me." It's then that Toothless decides she's actually in danger and stalks ahead, teeth slipping into place. Aaron's jaw drops, and his hands shake just slightly, but he holds his ground.

"First chance you get, you run. Get help." Aaron mutters out of the side of his mouth. Hiccup keeps her eyes locked on Toothless. Slowly, she moves away from Aaron, holding her hands out.

"Toothless, easy now," she says, voice soothing. His teeth are still bared, and he ignores her entirely.

"What are you doing?" Aaron asks, rooted to the spot.

"Aaron, this is Toothless. Toothless, this is Aaron, he's a… friend."

 _No friend._

"Yes, friend. Be nice. Relax."

"What the hell? What are you doing?" Aaron repeats. She turns to him, palms open.

"Aaron, put your knife down, you're scaring him," she tells him. He stares at her, incredulous.

"I'm scaring him?!" Toothless snarls, getting ready to lunge.

 _Threat._

"Toothless, no!" He doesn't listen, instead lunging for Aaron. He neatly dodges, rolling out of the way. Then, he runs, luckily not in the direction of his car.

"Da-dada, we're dead." Toothless huffs, nudging her shoulder. She rolls her eyes. "Come on, bud, we gotta set this straight." She climbs deftly up onto his back, and they kick off. Toothless follows the scent, flying low to search.

Aaron's not very far, running fast maybe twenty feet below them. He hasn't seen them yet, so Hiccup nudges Toothless down to a swoop. Aaron sees them now, and picks up speed, but there's no way he'll outrun a dragon, especially a nightfury.

Toothless catches Aaron by the foot, and hauls him up. Hiccup can just barely hear his screams. She knows this is insane, but she just needs he chance to show Aaron that dragons aren't monsters, that they can be kind and intelligent. She needs to know he won't compromise Toothless's safety.

Together, they fly high, up into the clouds and away from the town. Toothless flies them for a while, before he stops, perching up onto a tree branch.

Aaron dangles helplessly, trying desperately to pull himself up.

"Let me go!" he screams. "Get me down, now!

"Aaron, you have to listen to me, you have to give me a chance to explain—"

"No! I'm not listening to ANYTHING you say," he yells. Hiccup elbow Toothless, getting him to pull Aaron up, so he can scramble up onto Toothless's back. "Fine, I won't say a word. Just let me show you."

Aaron, who's perched precariously on the absolute edge of the saddle nods. Hiccup smiles, and settles into her seat, resting her foot on the gear. She's about to turn to him, tell him to hang on to something, her waist maybe, but she doesn't get the chance.

Toothless, like the giant asshole he is, takes off with zero warning, zooming up at almost a vertical incline. Hiccup scrambles for the reins, and for a moment, she thinks that this how they're going to die, because Toothless is petty.


	10. Romantic Flight

**A/N: Okay so clearly, I took a crazy long break from this story, but I just finished the sixth season of RTTE and I needed more HTTYD in my life, so I was inspired to pick this story back up! I think updates will be a little more consistent, about every Wednesday or so. Enjoy!**

Aaron's screams take up most of Hiccup's headspace, so it takes her a few seconds to realize he's slipping, falling backwards off the saddle. In a move that surprises even herself, she grabs Aaron's arm and hauls him up.

Of course, Toothless drops into a dive, which sends Aaron slamming into her back. She grabs the straps on the saddle, and twists so she's actually in the seat. She slips her feet into the gears and manages to right them, but Toothless chooses that moment to start with barrel rolls. It's a new move, so it jolts her, enough that her feet slip automatically to help him along.

"And we're spinning, he's not usually like this," she promises, trying to yank on the tailfin, to stop the spinning. "Can it, you useless reptile, we need him to like us!"

"Okay! Okay, I'll listen, just stop, just make him stop!" Aaron begs, voice uncharacteristically frightened. Toothless suddenly stops, letting Hiccup take control again. She slows their flight, and urges him gently upwards, up above the clouds. It's colder here, sure, but's it's the most beautiful place she's ever been.

The blue hues of the sky melt against the soft pinks and oranges of a setting sun. She can feel Aaron's arms slip slowly around her waist. He presses carefully against her back, tucking his chin over her shoulder.

"This is beautiful," he says, breathless. He seems to realize his position and pulls back, just slightly. He keeps his arms where they are, though, and it takes a ridiculous amount of headspace.

"Isn't it? Look, just down there. Toothless and I like to rest here sometimes," she says, stroking Toothless's neck. He lets a rush of familiarity flow through her, and she relaxes. The drop leisurely, letting Aaron get used to the sensation.

They touch down gently, and Hiccup show Aaron how to dismount. His blond hair is wild from the wind, his cheeks flushed, and his blue eyes shine like diamonds. He looks gorgeous.

"That was amazing!" he yells, looking around wildly. His eyes land on Toothless, and the wild expression on his face softening. "Thank you."

Toothless dips his head, looking at Aaron carefully.

 _No threat._

Hiccup can agree with that.

"So, how did this happen? How did you get… him?" Aaron asks, gesture to Toothless. Hiccup shrugs, settling down against the rocks. She nods at Toothless and he sets off, snapping at the fish at the surface of the water.

"Do you remember that raid at the beginning of the year? In august?" Aaron nods. "There were dragons close to the city, and I had this catapult, this net launcher. I thought it'd be a good night to try it out." Aaron gives her an incredulous look, to which she can only grin sheepishly.

"Terrible idea, but it worked. I hit Toothless, and I… cut apart his tailfin. I found him, in the ravine out past my house. I went down there, to see him, and when I saw him… it was my whole world came crashing down, like the way I saw things was different all of the sudden."

The sit there, in the heavy silence. Hiccup feels heat flood into her cheeks, embarrassed that she said too much. Aaron stares at her, eyes sharp, like he's seeing something deeper than her.

"He trusts you," Aaron settles on. "You take care of each other."

"Yeah. We do." They look at each for as long as the other dares, then Hiccup drops her eyes, looking to Toothless. He stares in between the two of them, eyes narrowing. Aaron clears his throat.

"So that's why you got so good at dragon training," he says, smiling awkwardly. Hiccup laughs, and then the tension breaks. Soon enough, the two of them are in hysterics, tears streaming down their faces, clutching their stomachs while Toothless looks on, exasperated.

"Come on," Hiccup decides finally, sobering up. "Let's go home."

The flight back is quiet, just the two of them admiring the deep purples and blues of a darkening sky. Aaron wraps himself around Hiccup openly now, leaning his head against hers. They touch down in the forest, as close to the gate as Hiccup dares.

Aaron stands awkwardly in front of her, shouldering his fallen bag. Hiccup leans against Toothless, not sure what to say.

"You won't… you won't say anything will you, about Toothless?" She asks, watching him carefully.

"No," he says, simply. He looks up, chin jutting up high. "No, I won't."

"Thank you." Aaron steps deliberately forward and shoves her shoulder. Hiccup stumbles into Toothless, but he catches her wrist, stabilizing her.

"That was for kidnapping me," he explains. His cheeks flush, and his eyes burn before he pulls her close, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. Hiccup feels heat flare up inside her, spreading from her cheeks down to her toes.

"That was for… everything else." With that, Aaron takes off, nimbly climbing the fence and heading for his car. Hiccup watches him leave, a wry little smile on her face.

"Come on, bud let's go home."

She and Toothless take the long away home, swooping through the heavily wooded trees. It's pretty dark, and Toothless is the color of midnight. Hiccup doubts they'll be seen. They touch down in the ravine a little past ten, but she doesn't mind.

She hikes back up to the house and drops her riding gear in the shed before heading inside.

"Now, where were ya' all evenin'? I've jus' sittin' around, waiting for ya'" Gobber sits in her living room, twirling his keys. Hiccup can only stare, eyes wide and breathing shallow.

This is it. This the end of her, the end of Toothless. Gobber's one of the most competent men she's ever met, barring her father. If anyone could take down a nightfury, it would be him. Hiccup juts her chin up, steeling herself.

"Just out, hiking." She's not a very good liar, never has been, but Gobber's always, _always,_ seen through her, even if her own father couldn't. He raises an eyebrow, a wry little smile on his lips. Hiccup tries to calm her breathing, to look innocent.

"Really? Never took ya' fer the outdoorsy type," he comments, hauling himself up off the couch. He claps a hand onto her shoulder, sending her wobbling. "Anyways, I promised yer father I'd look after ya' while he was gone. Jus' checking in to how much damage you did." He grins at her cheerfully. "I know how much ya' don't like to clean."

Mostly, the place is clean, if a little cluttered. Her school work and Toothless notes are scattered around, but they look untouched.

"Would ya' relax! I'm not here to interrogate ya'! Mostly came by to make sure you were feeding ya'self," he explains, stowing his keys in his pocket. As her father's oldest friend, Gobber's known Hiccup all her life; if was here to bust her, he would have so already.

"I'm ordering an insane amount of takeout," she lies. Mostly, it's been camp food, and jerky. She and Toothless eat together most meals.

"Good! You could use a little more meat on yer bones!" He gestures for the door, car keys in hands. "Let's get something to eat, shall we?"

"What's even open this late?" Gobber stops short, scratching his hair with his prosthetic.

"Righ', hadn't though' of that. Orderin' a pizza sound alrigh' to ya?" She nods, hiding a laugh. Bright as he is, Gobber can still be a little absent minded. While they wait, Gobber tells her about the trolls who've snuck into his classroom and stolen his playbook.

"Gobber," Hiccup interjects, "I'm pretty sure that's the hazing the upperclassmen do to the underclassmen."

"Well, what a bullshit thing to do," Gobber says crossly. Hiccup snorts, swiping away the grease on her mouth.

"You done ditching your job, now? Can I expect you at yer damn job tomorrow?" he says mildly, arching his eyebrow.

"Ah, come on, you can't let me spiral and be irresponsible a little longer?" She puts on her most convincing smile.

"I let ya' have a free pass, while I was busy with football season, but now I've got two week or so before championship, and I need ya'."

Hiccup thinks about Toothless, and how lonely he'd feel, without her. But then she thinks about Gobber asking more questions, and about her father, who calls at the most in opportune moments. She thinks about his safety. It's only a few more weeks, late November at the latest. She'll be back in time the first snowfalls. Toothless will love it.

"Yeah, fine, I'll be there at practice. But don't think I'll be cheery or anything," she agrees. Gobber smirks.

"When the hell have ya' ever been cheery?"

 **A/N: Alright! Let me know what you though, any critiques you may have, and I'll see you guys next week!**


	11. Another Forbidden Friendship

**A/N: So, I missed two Wednesdays, I know, but I'm giving you guys two rapid fire updates to make up for it!**

When Aaron gets back, his mother waits anxiously in the living room.

"Where the hell have you been?" she demands, thrusting her phone into his face. "Nineteen missed calls, Aaron! You can't do this, not now."

"Sorry, Mom," he mumbles, side stepping her and heading straight for his room. His mother yells at him, to stop and come and talk, but he can't **,** not to her, not after everything he's seen. His hands still shake, just the slightest.

Their apartment feels cramped tonight, especially after seeing how huge and expansive the world above the clouds was.

Aaron throws himself facedown onto his bed and groans. This isn't how he pictured his first real encounter with a dragon. He imagined having a weapon in his hand, imagined taking it down. He hadn't imagined that they thought, or protected, or did anything aside from killing.

This one, however, was different. Aaron thinks about the way his eyes tracked his every movement, how they flickered back to Hiccup to check she was safe from the threat. He thinks about the way they moved together, how in sync they were. He thinks about flying, about the freedom that burned through his veins, the joy.

He thinks about Hiccup, the desperation in her eyes, how she'd pleaded with him to understand, to see it her way.

He had.

He'd seen the bond between the two of them, the purity of it. He doesn't think the dragon would let anything in the world harm Hiccup, ever.

Toothless, she'd called it. He didn't understand the name, not after the jagged teeth he'd seen. The Nightfury was absolutely terrifying. Before Hiccup had intervened, Aaron knew in his heart he was going to die. It was midnight black, sleek, and strong looking. Its eyes were huge, an eerie green color that Aaron can't forget, even if he wanted to.

It was ferocious, without a question, but careful and gentle with Hiccup, and him too, once Hiccup made it clear he could be trusted.

He sits up, dropping his face into his hands. God, what does he even do now?

He can't tell anyone what he saw, because he swore to Hiccup. He's going to keep his word, no matter what.

This means he was wrong, about dragons. This Nightfury, famed to be the most vicious of all dragons, was good and kind. Protective and loyal.

Aaron thinks about the other dragons he'd seen, the ones in the training ring. Could they be good too? Loyal? Not killers?

A knocking at his door brings him out of his reverie, startling him.

"Yeah?"

"Dinner, Aaron, come on. Wash up." His mother is curt, but she has every right to be. Her husband has been gone for months, on a dragon expedition, and her son doesn't bother calling when he's going to be late.

Aaron goes to the kitchen quietly, helping set the table. She slams down dishes in silence, and Aaron wisely keeps his mouth shut.

"Well?" she says, staring over at her son. Aaron sighs, smiles apologetically at his mother.

"I'm sorry. I was at the football field, practicing," he lies. "It's just that we've got the championships games coming up, and there are going to be scouts there, and we need the scholarship money, for school…"

Ingrid Hofferson is a hard women. She always has been, as far back as Aaron could remember. She doesn't soften easily, but now, she's looking at him with pity and understand, with soft fondness.

"Of course. It's alright. Just make sure you call me next time, alright?" He nods, shoving his guilt away. He doesn't deserve her kindness, no when he's all but committed treason. The rest of dinner is mostly quiet.

After he's finished with the dishes, Aaron tells his mother goodnight, and goes to hide in his room. He pulls out his phone, scrolling through his contacts. He must have Hiccup's number somewhere, he has most of the seniors. Her name's nowhere to be found.

He does find Fiona's name, he supposes he could ask her, but it's too embarrassing to. He has a million questions, but he supposes they can wait until the morning. They have calculus together, he can talk to her then.

He sleeps fitfully, dreaming of dragons and fire and girls with pretty auburn hair.

The next morning, he wakes up nervous. He sets about, getting his things ready, procrastinating as long as he can. Eventually, it gets late enough that he has to go, so he does, rushing out of the apartment and tossing his mother a brief goodbye.

He speeds to Rory's house, slamming down on the brake and the horn. A few moments later, a disgruntled Rory and his twin amble out. Rory hops in the front, leaving Tori to clamber into the back, amidst all of Aaron's football gear.

"Sorry," he says, already speeding away. He usually stops to grab Scarlett too, but they've been on something of a break. She got clingy, and Aaron told her so. She didn't take to it too well, though.

At school, people call out their hello's and Aaron smiles back, but he's distracted today. He discretely searches for Hiccup but gives up after a few minutes. She's nowhere to be seen apparently.

He slides into his English class at the very last minute, disgruntled. Rory sits next to him, texting away.

"What's up with you?" Rory asks, not looking up from his phone. "You're even more of an asshole than you usual are today."

"I'm not an asshole," Aaron grumbles. The teacher walks in, so Aaron starts pulling his books out, flipping to a clean page in his notebook. Rory drops his phone into his lap, so he can text discreetly.

The lecture starts, but Aaron can barely think about Hamlet. Instead, his mind wanders back the clearing, and to open skies.

It's lunchtime before Aaron see's Hiccup again. She gather's her lunch, and carefully slips out of the cafeteria. Aaron watches her with a frown.

"Yo. Let's go, man, come on." Rory's voice breaks his concentration and Aaron scowls, but follows after him. The sit in the very center of the cafeteria, at the coveted "cool table." Aaron's watched Scarlett verbally rip people into pieces for coming too close, claiming them unworthy.

Today, Scarlett's ignoring him, making it very obvious she isn't talking to him. Secretly, Aaron enjoys the break.

Fiona's been sitting with them recently, but Aaron suddenly remembers she used to sit with Hiccup, at the beginning of the semester.

"Fiona," he says suddenly. It startles her into dropping her fork. "You used to sit with Hiccup, didn't you?"

"Um, yeah. Why?" She looks at him quizzically, tilting her head to the side. Aaron feels heat creep into his cheeks. He hadn't thought this far.

"Uh, no reason," he says, thinking fast. "Just wondering why you don't sit with her now."

"Oh! Well, Hiccup's gotten really spacy, you know, like she's never there anymore." Fiona shrugs. "She spends most lunches in the library nowadays."

"Huh." Aaron wonders what she could be doing.

After that, the day goes by fast. He sits clear across the room from Hiccup in calculus, so Aaron couldn't find a normal way to try to talk to her. It had left him beyond frustrated. They have football practice after school, extended an extra thirty minutes. They're going to the championships this year, and Gobber wants to win state. Aaron jogs out of the locker room, gear on, when he spots Hiccup, sitting in the bleachers, clutching a clipboard, looking board. Aaron can't help the smile that spreads over his face.

Without thinking, he jogs up to her.

"Present," he announces, then promptly turns red. What a dumb thing to say, he thinks, of course she knows he's present.

"Oh! Uh, yeah, here you are, on time," Hiccup babbles. She marks him down on the clip board. Aaron watches as her legs jiggle, and the way she shifts, restless.

"Must suck, being grounded," he says, gesturing to the sky. Hiccup smiles, ducking her head, letting her hair fall all around her face.

"Yeah. He's going to be pretty pissed when I get back. We usually go out for a couple hours after school," she explains, voice quiet. Aaron grins, picturing the two of them, Hiccup and her dragon, loose in the sky.

"You can make it up to him after we win the championship," he says, grinning.

"Oh, you are playing a dangerous game, sir, all confidence before you even had a single practice," Hiccup shoots back. Aaron's about to quip back at her, before a hand lands heavy on his shoulder.

"An' speakin' o' practice," Gobber says. "Don' you think you ought to be getting' out there?"

"Uh, yeah. Sorry Gobber," Aaron says, jogging away from them.

 **A/N: Let me know what you thought!**


	12. This Time, For Sure

**A/N: Rapid fire update two! A couple of chapters from here are going to be in Aaron's perspective, one, because I think it adds a little more depth to the story, and two, because I like writing him. We'll go back to Hiccup though.**

Days go by, and nothing really changes. Aaron goes to school, football practice, and dragon training. He hangs out with his friends, hooks up with girls, and does normal teenage things. There's one thing, however, that's not so normal.

Hiccup.

She defies any and all categorization. She's an enigma like Aaron's never seen before. The quiet, awkward, nerdy girl at school melts into someone confident and strong, capable of anything. The girl who flies with dragons.

Aaron watches her closely at dragon training, noting how she never hurts any of the dragons, just calms them and earns their trust. Every dragon in that ring trusts her not to hurt them. It's gotten to the point that even Aaron takes cation not to hurt them, emulating whatever Hiccup does.

After dragon training one night, once they're back at the school, Hiccup hangs back, lingering in the parking lot, watching as people drive away. Aaron waits a few minutes, making sure they're the last two in the parking lot.

He crosses over, wrapping his arms around himself.

"Uh, hey," he says, feeling awkward. Hiccup raises an eyebrow.

"Hey, yourself," she says. "What's up?"

"I…" the words die down in his throat, but he forces them back up. "I want you to show me."

"Show you… what?" Hiccup asks uncertainly.

"I want you to show me how to do it. Train the dragons," he clarifies, anxious. Hiccup eyes widen, and her mouth falls open in surprise.

"You… what?"

"I want to learn. You showed me that they weren't all bad, that they all had the capacity to learn, even the Monstrous Nightmare," he babbles. He remembers watching in astonishment as Hiccup had coaxed the beast into submission, until it had lolled around on the ground, looking up at Hiccup in contentment. Aaron found that he was getting pretty good at understanding the dragons, especially the Nadder.

"Uh, okay," she says slowly. Aaron can all but see the wheels in her mind turning. "Okay, that's doable, I think. You should practice on Toothless first, and then we'll take you out, maybe up into dragon country, find another dragon for you to work on."

"I was thinking maybe something more local," Aaron counters. Hiccup's eyes go wide with realization.

"Are you insane? You want to," her voice drops to a whisper. "Break into the DBD training ring? And train a dragon?"

"Yeah," Aaron answers simply. "Are you in or not?"

Hiccup's silent for a while, contemplating. She runs a hand through her hair, mussing up the auburn locks. Aaron can't help but marvel at the way they gently slip back into place.

"Fine. But we do this my way," she agrees, lips pressed into a thin line. Aaron grins at her.

"You won't regret this," he promises. Hiccup shrugs, chuckling humorlessly.

"Oh, I'm sure I will. I always do."

With that, they exchange numbers, and Hiccup promises to text Aaron the plan. Aaron's hands are shaky on his steering wheel, but it's from excitement, anticipation. He drives home too fast, grinning like a crazy person.

His mother has dinner waiting at the dinner table, like she does every Tuesday night. She takes in the goofy expression on his face and raises an eyebrow.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" she asks, ladling out some stew for him. Aaron ducks his head, hiding his smile.

"Just… a good class," he says enigmatically.

"You sound like you're doing really well," she comments, looking down to her own bowl. "Planning on going into the field? Like your father?"

Aaron can hear the worry seeping under her carefully neutral tone. She used to work in the field too, before she was taken down by a dragon. Luckily, she was saved by Aaron's father, but it was enough to cost her the job. Of all people, Ingrid knows how dangerous this career is.

"I don't know anymore," he admits. She looks up suddenly, neutral expression betrayed by the hope buried deep in her eyes.

"You do what you feel is right," she advises. Aaron nods. He intends to follow that advise.

After dinner, while Aaron works on some homework, he keeps an eye on his phone, waiting for a text from Hiccup. His heart jumps into his throat every time his phone buzzes and sinks with disappointment every time it's not her.

Finally, around eleven, his phone rings. Aaron scrambles for it, hitting answer on the second ring.

"Hello?" he answers, breathless.

"Um, hi, it's Hiccup." Her voice sounds high and girlish, which does something to his stomach.

"Yeah, hey, did you think of something?"

"Okay, so here's the plan. Next Tuesday, after the last class, we snake the keycard from Gobber. Or, well, _I_ snake the keycard while you keep him distracted. Ask him about the championship game or something, isn't that soon?"

"It's next Friday, but yeah, I can do that. What next?"

"We go back to the DBD and we let a dragon out. Maybe the Nadder?"

"Definitely," Aaron agrees, thinking back to a few classes ago, when they were working on the Nadder. This time, they were avoiding spikes, learning how to defend themselves up close and personal. Aaron had managed to get the Nadder to stop, backing it up to its cage. They'd stared each other down, appraising each other, and Aaron had even felt something at the back of his mind, the first tentative attempt at contact.

"I'm guessing we'll have until the next morning before Gobber realizes. We'll swing by his house and drop it into his car, make it look like he just dropped it or something." Hiccup finishes.

"Sounds like a plan."

"Okay! So, I was thinking you could come down this weekend? Maybe get in some training basics with me and Toothless?" She sounds nervous, and Aaron has to agree.

"Yeah sure, Saturday morning work okay with you?" he confirms.

"Yeah, alright. So, I'll see you then."

"See you then."

Aaron's heart hammers, and suddenly, it's all he can think about. He's buzzing with excitement, so much so that when he can't sleep, he ends up getting a head start on his homework.

The next morning, Aaron's in such a good mood, not even Rory and Tori can bring him down, though they try.

"Did you make up with Scarlett? Did she let you score? Is that why you're all creepy and smiley?" Rory guesses, smirking lecherously.

"I'm not being creepy," Aaron argues. "And no. We're broken up, for good."

"You say that every time. Then, when you're horny enough, you go right back, it's a pattern," Rory says, leaning back in the passenger seat.

"It's a pattern," Tori echoes, flipping her hair back.

"Oh, shut up, you idiots," Aaron snarls, cheeks red.

They pull into the parking lot about the same time Hiccup does. Aaron doesn't watch her get out of her car and trip over her own feet, because that would be creepy. He definitely doesn't catalogue the way her shirt rides up, exposing skinny hips and creamy skin.

Aaron doesn't let himself think about Hiccup all week, but of course, he treacherous brain disobeys. He thinks about her constantly, in all capacities. Mostly, he thinks about riding.

Dragon riding, he means.

And nothing else.

Of course, as the weekend nears, Aaron worries more and more. He worries that he won't be good at dragon training, or dragon riding, or that the Nadder won't like him.

On Friday, Aaron feels crazy enough that he corners Hiccup on her way out of the cafeteria.

"Hey!" he greets. Hiccup blinks at him, mouth open in a surprised "o". Aaron takes a breath and carries on. "Why don't you come sit with us today? Fiona's there, and I know she misses you."

"Oh! Uh, yeah, alright, I guess," she mumbles. Aaron leads her over to his table, right at the center of the cafeteria.

"Yo! What's up, dragon girl," Rory calls, grinning at the two of them. Aaron drops into his usual seat, between Scar and Rory. Hiccup hovers awkwardly, until Fiona gestures to the seat next to her, smiling softly. Aaron watches fondly as the girls slip into easy conversation.

"Not to be rude," Scar starts, regarding her cousin with mean eyes. Aaron's good mood instantly dissolves. "Why are you here?"

"Uh, well, I guess, I, um—"

"I asked her to come over." Aaron's word is final, a hush falling over the table. With that, everyone slips back into regular conversation. Hiccup adapts fast, coming back with quips faster than people can fire them.

By the end of lunch, before Hiccup can slip away, Aaron corners her again.

"Hey what's the plan for tomorrow?"

Hiccup startles, pressing a hand to her heart. She hunches her shoulders, frowning a little.

"Geez, don't do that! You scared the crap out of me," she says. "I'll text you the address, and you can swing by around ten. We'll go down to the ravine, and I'll show you some basics."

"Okay, cool. Ten AM sharp." He nods, and steps aside to let Hiccup pass. As she goes, she holds a half-hearted hand up in goodbye, smiling in that self-deprecating way she does.

It's sort of endearing.

Aaron can barely pay attention the entire rest of the day. Rory calls him out on his distractedness several times, snickering every time he misses a question or startles back into awareness. Finally, when the day ends, he races to his car, like going home faster is going to make Saturday come faster. He waits, impatient, for the twins to show.

"Finally. You two took your own damn time," Aaron scowls. Rory flips him the bird, vaulting into the passenger seat. Tori pauses for a minute to slather lip gloss on before hopping into the back.

"Take us away, Jeeves," she instructs Aaron, waving her hand at him condescendingly. Aaron snarls, but guns it out of the parking lot.

He drops the twins off at their place, barely slowing to a stop before rushing them out of his car. He drives home a little slower, careful not to speed where his mother might find out about it.

It's a rare Friday afternoon when he doesn't have a game, so he spends a little time lounging before getting a head start on the weekend's worth of homework. He's captain of three different sports teams, so he has to take every opportunity to be on top of his schoolwork. He's not the best of the best for nothing.

His mom gets home a littler later, and they work in companionable silence, either on housework or homework. They eat a quiet dinner, asking each other how their days went. Aaron does the dishes after, watching as his mother scours her email, hoping for some contact from his father. A heavy pit develops deep in his stomach, worrying about his father.

The excitement at the prospect of flying with Hiccup is still there, but guilt tamps it down sharply. Is he doing something wrong? Is he betraying his own father?

"Anything?" he asks, though he seriously doubts it.

"No." Her voice wavers, but his mother hasn't broken face once in front of him, hasn't let herself express worry over husband once.

Aaron walks over to her, lays a sympathetic hand on his mother's shoulder.

"He's fine, Mom, he always is. Besides, he's with Chief Haddock," he assures her. He feels like a fraud, though. His mother grabs his hand, holds it tight.

"You're a good boy, Aaron," she says simply, voice tight with emotion. She pats his cheek brusquely, heading off to her room. Aaron sticks around a little longer, deciding to do a little research.

First, he searches dragon attacks, going through article after article of various northern cities suffering from dragon raids. Aaron reads carefully for body counts, proof that dragons _are_ killers, that what he's thinking about doing is treason.

The weird thing is, he can't really find many.

By his count, 26 people have been killed in the past twenty years. His own father has killed fifty dragons alone. Those numbers don't fall in favor of the DBD. Aaron smiles despite himself; he will ride with Hiccup.

 **A/N: Let me know what you thought!**


	13. The Cove

**A/N: Hey guys! This is the last Aaron-centric chapter for a little while, so we're switching back to Hiccup's point of view! Enjoy!**

Aaron wakes up far too early the next day, mind whirring with nerves. He throws back a cup of coffee before going on a run, to calm his nerves. He comes back an hour later, much more at ease. After a quick shower, he eats fast and tells his mother he's heading out.

The drive to Hiccup's house takes longer than he'd anticipated, but he can't help but marvel at the way the houses spread farther and farther apart and grow bigger and bigger. Eventually, he turns onto a long, winding driveway, following it up to the grandiose porch.

Hiccup sits on the bottom step of her porch, clutching a mug. She waves when he's close enough to see. Aaron cuts the engine, but sits in his car for a second, steeling his nerves. Hiccup watches him with a frown, so Aaron decides to head out.

"Hey," she says. "Hi, Aaron, hey." Her nervousness does nothing to help his own.

"We should get going," he says brusquely. He doesn't mean to be curt, but he can't help it. Hiccup's meager smile drops, her brow furrowed.

"Yeah, alright. It's a bit of a hike," she warns. With that, they walk around the house, through the backyard, and down to the ravine. Neither say a word, nor does Aaron try to strike up a conversation. A low growl fills the air, breaking the silence. He can't help but jump.

"Hey bud," Hiccup calls softly, crouching and creeping along the ravine walls, making her way down, tripping and stumbling. Aaron follows her lead, far more gracefully. The Nightfury, Toothless, waits at the bottom, eyes tracking Hiccup carefully.

He bounds up to her once she's made to the clearing, knocking her flat on her back and licking her cheeks in excitement. Hiccup laughs, batting the dragon away playfully. Aaron laughs, the hard ball of nervousness unraveling. The dragon looks up at him, big green eyes wide and trusting. Aaron cautiously extends a hand and Toothless meets him halfway, nudging his palm gently.

Hiccup clambers awkwardly to her feet, swiping away the dragon drool from her face.

"Uh, okay! Good start! Uh, I guess the key to dragon training is trust," she says. "Uh, if your dragon doesn't trust you, it won't listen. Besides, you don't control a dragon, you work together, right bud?"

Toothless gurgles happily in agreement. Hiccup scratches the dragon's neck, smiling.

"Okay, so, today, I'm going to teach you how to fly Toothless. It's not hard, kinda like driving a car. Just let Toothless know where you wanna go and how. Only thing, he doesn't… have part of his tailfin, so I made him sort of a prosthetic. He uses it to steer."

Aaron nods, carefully studying the tailfin. It's simple brown leather, spread over a series of metal rods. There's a peddle for it up by the saddle.

"We'll do a practice ride, so you can just watch my feet. There are six different positions, for different angles. I'm tweaking the design a little, maybe for added flexibility and—"

"Hiccup. You're babbling," Aaron says, smiling gently. Pink blossoms over her cheeks, spreading all the way to her neck.

"Ah, well, I have that tendency," she mumbles, smiling in her self-deprecating way. She climbs up onto the saddle, sitting as far up as she can. Aaron follows, keeping a little distance between them, holding on to the back edge of the saddle in a white knuckled grip.

They kick off the ground, and instantly, Aaron's heart leaps into his throat. Adrenaline begins to course through his veins, enough for him to feel the prickle of anticipation creep up his spine. Now that Aaron's pretty sure he won't die, he can enjoy Toothless's smooth motion and control for what it is: a show of power.

Hiccup narrates her every movement, talking about how subtle changes in pressure can cause shifts in the tailfin. Aaron sorely wishes he had a pen with him, there's no way he's going to remember all this.

They go around the ravine, and then out, flying low against the trees for a while. Hiccup talks him through climbing higher and dives, through turning and swerving. Slowly, Aaron starts to pick it up. By the time they touch down, he honestly thinks he could handle it.

"Okay, so do you think you have it or do you wanna watch me go through it again?" Aaron shakes his head, offering her a confidant smile. He feels good.

"No, I think I can do this," he says. They switch place, but he notices that Hiccup keeps a careful distance. He grips the front of the saddle, carefully extending the tailfin so Toothless can take off.

"Okay Toothless, go ahead," he says. The dragon crouches, then leaps up, taking off. Adrenaline courses through his system again, pure and fierce, riding the first high. Distantly, Hiccup laughs.

All in all, it doesn't go too badly

Aaron maneuvers the fin a little jerkily, nowhere near as well as Hiccup. His climbs are a little slow, and his drops too fast, but Toothless watches his back, correcting for his mistakes. Hiccup corrects him too, in a careful, patient tone, so it doesn't even make him feel like he's screwing up.

Aaron follows the same path Hiccup had taken, flying dangerously close to the tree tops.

"Remember," Hiccup calls. "He doesn't want to hit the trees any more than you do!"

Aaron nods, easing up on the steering. It's not his job to fly, only to guide. It's all about believing Toothless and helping him do the work. He shifts his weight a little, leaning to where he wants to go, instead of jerking on the saddle. Miraculously, the flying gets smoother, closer to what Hiccup had showed him.

They touch down a little awkwardly, Toothless rolling his eyes.

"Can it, bud," Hiccup reprimands. She turns to Aaron, eyes bright and hair windswept.

"How do you feel?" she asks. He laughs, still exhilarated.

"Amazing. That was amazing, I can't believe I just did that!" Hiccup laughs, beaming.

"I'll admit, it'll be different _training_ a dragon, for sure." Hiccup sobers, frown sliding off her face. "That Nadder's been trapped in that arena so long. All it knows is fighting." She looks up at him, steel in her eyes.

"This is your last chance to back out. If you do this, everything changes." Aaron meets her stare, impressed. He's never once seen fight in her before, not unless it's concerning a dragon.

"I'm not backing down," he says evenly. "I want to do this. I want to train dragons, and fly with them." She smiles again, more subdued.

"Of course, breaking into the DBD is going to be hard, and the Nadder's definitely going to try to kill us."

"I don't think so. We had an understanding last time. I didn't hurt it, and it didn't hurt me." He says. "I think it'll do the same."

"Did you hear it? The dragon?" she asks, eyes wide. Aaron cocks his head, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Dragons can communicate with us, like telepathy. Toothless and I do it all the time."

"You're telling me dragons can read minds?" Aaron quirks an eyebrow.

"Not really, just communication," she clarifies.

"Oo…kay. What do look for, er, feel for?"

Hiccup shrugs, looking to her dragon, Toothless shrugs too, heading off to drink from the pond.

"It's just a feeling, I think, like an extra thought you didn't think up. It's sort of like hearing someone talk, just without the sound. It's hard to describe," she says, gesturing unnecessarily. Hiccup walks up to her dragon and leans against him, laughing when he licks her.

Aaron thinks back to the strange prickle he felt the last time, creeping up his spine and pressing against the back of his head, like knocking on a door.

"So, what else? Any more lesson plans?" he asks, half-joking. Hiccup shakes her head.

"Well, uh, no! You basically know everything I know now," she says, wrapping her arms around herself. He notices she does little things to make her look smaller. It doesn't work as well as it used to, she takes up so much space without even meaning to now.

"Can we go again?" he asks. Hiccup grins, clambering up onto the saddle immediately. She holds a hand out, beckoning him on. His movements are more graceful than hers, he notices, but she moves much more fluidly, especially on the saddle.

They kick off again, faster this time, climbing higher and higher until Aaron's stomach begins to lurch up. They fly steady and fast for a few minutes, Aaron placing his hands gently on Hiccup's waist, instead of on the back of the saddle.

Hiccup takes them farther this time, carefully to fly low enough to avoid the DBD's radars. They slip into dragon country effortlessly. Technically, they're committing high treason, but Aaron can't see the fault in what they're doing. Flying on Toothless feels so natural, pure.

The trees seem to come alive the further they go, rustling, teeming with dragons. A flock of terrible terrors sits one tree, preening and grooming each other.

"Look over there," Hiccup says, pointing to the left. There's some sort of rock bed there, but the Gronckles lazing around on top of them still take Aaron aback. He's never seen dragons in the wild before. They continue on, Aaron watching in awe of all the dragons around them. Monstrous Nightmares bask in the late afternoon sun, Deadly Nadders chase each other, squawking at their playmates.

They touch down in an empty clearing, resting for a few minutes. Toothless stretches, arching like a cat, shifting every muscle. Hiccup lays in the lush grass, smiling contentedly.

Aaron's never really described a girl as beautiful before, but right now, Hiccup fits the bill. Her hair against the grass looks deep auburn, almost brown. Her features seem delicate, not weak, and the bones he can see peeking out of her collarbone look fine, not brittle.

Toothless peeks over at his rider and opens his mouth. A strange purple light comes from the back of his throat, before he spits out a fireball, dangerously close to where Hiccup is lying. Aaron flinches back, yelping. Hiccup sits up abruptly, inching away from the fire.

"I'm good, bud," she says to the dragon. Aaron stares at them in confusion.

"Did he just… just try to—"

"Oh! No, no no no, he's just, it's a, um, it's a dragon thing. They like to warm up their sleeping spots before they settle down. He forgets sometimes that we're not the same," Hiccup apologizes, gesticulating wildly.

"He forgets you're a human?" Aaron asks incredulously. Hiccup shrugs in a self-deprecating way.

"Anyways," she says, changing the subject. "We need to come up with a plan for Tuesday."

"Yeah," he agrees, frowning thoughtfully. "Maybe a backup plan too, in case the whole stealing-Gobber's-key-card-thing doesn't work."

Hiccup snorts, shaking her head.

"It'll work," she assures him. "You just need to get him distracted. He always keeps his stuff on lanyard, and he doesn't wear it when he drives. When we get back to the school, you get his attention, maybe for two or three minutes, and I'll snake the key card. Most likely, he won't notice until later. Then, we drive back to the DBD and try and train the Nadder, which is the hard part."

"Have you ever trained a Nadder? Like out here?" he asks.

"No, but I've met some. As long as you stay out of there way and respect them, they won't give you any trouble. They don't care what you are, but if you insult them, they'll fight you to the death." Hiccup shudders, then tells him about a particularly nasty excursion up here, when a speed stinger had fought a Nadder for some deer. Hiccup had Toothless intervene at the very last second, sparing the smaller dragon's life.

"Great," Aaron mutters darkly. "I'll have my work cut out for me."

 **A/N: Let me know what you guys thought, especially about the point of view change! See you all next week!**


	14. Dragon's Den

**A/N: I'm still alive! And so is this story! I'll be updating every week on Sunday's, so keep a look out. So without further, enjoy our return to Hiccup's perspective.**

Tuesday comes faster than either Hiccup or Aaron anticipated, both of them shaking with anticipation for their last real class. They've got some sort of final exam the next Tuesday, marking the end of their course, just in time for Thanksgiving break.

They're in the van, driving over to the institute, and Hiccup can barely focus because Aaron _chose_ to sit next to her today. He made a conscious decision to sit by her. Hiccup can't help but peek at him every so often, even as he talks to Gobber about the game at the end of the week. It's the State Championship game, and while Hiccup knows she should pay a little attention, she can't bring herself to, instead focusing on the way Aaron's mouth moves.

The class goes by simply, just some Gronkle defense today. Hiccup has it eating out of the palm of her hand in minutes and spends the rest of the period subtly playing with it. She can't feel any communication from it, nothing concrete, though she does get some vague feelings.

She can feel Aaron's eyes on her, tracking her every movement. She knows he's just trying to learn, but it's stressing her out considerably.

After class, the bus ride home is pretty chatty, the rest of Hiccup's classmates talking excitedly about the game. When they reach the school parking, Aaron nudges Hiccup, hard. Wincing, she deftly climbs out of the car, prowling around to the driver side. Aaron gets Gobber's attention easily, and to Hiccup's surprise, the car door has been left open.

She snakes the key card as quickly as she can, stuffing it into her pocket then making her way, as casually as she can, back around to her car, where she waits, non-suspiciously, for Aaron to finish up.

A few minutes later, once Gobber's driven away, Aaron joins her, looking pale.

"You're sure about this?" Hiccup asks. To be honest, she's not that sure either, just because Nadders have a pretty nasty reputation. Apparently, they're vain creatures who insult easily, which could prove lethal.

"Yeah," he replies curtly. "Let's go."

Getting back into the training ring is surprisingly easy, one of the doors is even unlocked. Hiccup chalks it up to Gobber's preoccupation with the game.

Aaron takes position outside the Nadder's door, ramrod straight, while Hiccup slides the key card through the control panel. The door rattles as it opens, and the Nadder stays where it is, unsure of what to make of two teenagers in the dark.

"Hey," calls Hiccup softly. The Nadder tips it's head, curious, and takes a few steps out. "We're not going to hurt you."

Hiccup holds her hand out respectfully, waiting for the Naddder to make the next move. Slowly, the Nadder approaches, touching Hiccup's hand.

 _Why?_

"We're not here to hurt you," Hiccup repeats. "I promise." She gestures for Aaron to come join them. Careful to copy Hiccup's every movement, Aaron takes her place, settling a hand over the Nadder's snout.

"Woah," he exhales, stroking the smooth scales. "This is unbelievable." The Nadder preens under his ministration, stepping closer. Aaron grins, runs a hand over the dragon's neck. "Pretty."

Then the weirdest thing happens.

The Nadder's eyes narrow into slits and it bucks off Aaron's hand. Panicked, he looks to Hiccup, but she can't understand what's happening either. The Nadder takes flight and Aaron and Hiccup hit the ground to avoid it's erratic path. It claws at the ceiling desperate, throwing spikes. The rest of the cage door rattle, like their dragons are clawing at them.

"We need to get it back in the cage," Hiccup hisses. "I don't know what's going on, but it's effecting all the dragons!"

Aaron grabs a shield and starts banging on it, trying to get the Nadder's attention. Hiccup roots around desperately for the "dragon-nip" she had stashed in her backpack. The Nadder swoops, cornering Aaron. Hiccup finds the nip and rushes over, rubbing the secret spot all dragons have. The effective is instantaneous; the Nadder lolls on the ground but its eyes are still slits. Together, Aaron and Hiccup maneuver the dragon back into its cage.

"What was that?" Aaron asks. "That made the dragon go crazy like that?"

"I don't know, but I have to go check on Toothless," Hiccup answers. She's got a bad feeling, heavy in the pit of her stomach.

"I'll come with you," Aaron offers. "You might need back-up." They lock up the training ring and make their way out of the institute. Hiccup sets Gobber's key card by the DBDI van, making it look like he'd dropped it or something.

Hiccup guns it all the way to her house, throwing the car in park and shutting it off before sprinting around the house, headed straight for the ravine. Aaron catches up her easily. She can hear Toothless growling and whining.

When they get down, Toothless is one her instantly, tossing her bodily onto the saddle. His eyes look just like the Nadder's, narrowed into tight slits. Aaron clambers on and they sit for a minute, confused.

 _Fly. Fly now!_

Hiccup does, slipping her feet into the peddles, running on pure curiosity now. Toothless shows her where to go, when to turn, but his thoughts are wild, hard to understand. For the first time, he feels more like a wild animal than her best friend.

Toothless flies at breakneck speeds, Hiccup clinging to the saddle and Aaron clinging to her. The woods get darker as they fly further from home. They leave the mainland suddenly, flying high above the ocean. Tons of dragons crowd the skies now, all of their eyes weird slits. Each dragon clutches something, animals mostly.

"They've all got some sort of food," Hiccup observes.

"What does that make us?" Aaron asks darkly.

There's some sort of island up ahead, a dark volcano on barren rock. The dragons fly up and into the opening at the top. Each one drops their food into the deep abyss below. Toothless finds a cave and hides, retreating into the shadows.

"What are they doing, they're not even eating anything!" Aaron hisses. Hiccup frowns.

"Nice to know all of our livestock is being dumped down a hole," she grumbles. A lone Gronckle flies over the hole, pausing to spit out a single fish. It lingers there for a moment before beginning to fly away.

Something dark rises up fast, and Hiccup surges backwards when it opens its mouth, snapping up the Gronckle in a single bite. It's huge, bigger than anything Hiccup's seen in her whole life. Her breathing comes in weak little puffs, her heart hammers in her chest.

"What was that?" Aaron whispers, voice full of panic. Dragons all around them fly, panicked for the exit, and the _thing_ below snaps at them, trapping errant dragons in its wicked maw.

"We gotta go," Hiccup hisses to Toothless. "Now!"

They blast off, swerving and dodging to avoid being eaten. Hiccup's never felt fear like this before in her life. Whatever weird spell the dragons were under is broken now, and all of them fly wildly away, sky thick with bodies.

Toothless and Hiccup work to get them out of them, twisting and turning narrowly to avoid all the other dragons.

 _Home now._

Toothless leads them back, flying a little more easily once the skies have cleared. They sail over Berk, touching down in the ravine. Calmer now, Toothless deposits his rider and goes to take a long drink in the pond.

"What was that thing?" Aaron asks, complexion a deathly pale. Hiccup shrugs, breathing hard while her heart restarts.

"I have no idea, but did you see what it did to those dragons? It's controlling them somehow," She says between ragged breathes. Aaron lights up.

"That's why they raid! Because they have to, not because they want to. I bet you that none of the dragons would even cross the border if they didn't need to! It's a perfect ecosystem up there, untouched by humans."

"Yeah, I know," Hiccup agrees. "All we have to do is get other people to understand this. Maybe we can help them fight back or something. You saw how the Nadder snapped out of it, sort of."

"I don't think it did," Aaron counters. "Remember how it's eyes didn't change? All we did was drop it."

Hiccup groans in frustration, running a hand through her hair. She feels at such a loss. The world seems too big, sitting squarely on her shoulders. Obviously, it's her responsibility, because she's the only one who knows. This whole situation has exactly one silver lining however: she can stop the raids, thus all the dragon killings.

Hiccup drops onto a rock by the pond, pulling her knees up to her chest. After a moment, Aaron joins her.

"Hey," he says, like he's coaxing a dragon. "It's not your job to save all the dragons."

"Except it kind of is," Hiccup argues. "Who else is going to do it?"

Aaron shrugs, looking to the skies. They sit for a moment, silent, before Aaron stands.

"All I know is that we'll figure it out. You've got me, at least," he says. A light flush spreads across his cheeks. "I should be going home."

"Yeah, you're right." Hiccup smiles, standing as well and dusting off her jeans. "We'll figure something out." Together, they walk up the ravine after bidding Toothless goodnight. He settles in a ring of purple fire, smoldering away. Hiccup watches Aaron drive away, his old silver car getting smaller and smaller as it zips down the road.

Suddenly exhausted, Hiccup goes inside, getting ready for bed. There's really nothing she can do tonight. She'll do some research tomorrow, go back in with a plan, maybe see if she can train that giant dragon.

The next day, when she gets to woodshop, Gobber waits by the door, twirling the key card in his fingers. Hiccup's heart stops. Oh god. Gobber knows and he's totally going to call her out on everything, about stealing the key card, letting loose the Nadder, about Toohtless.

"So, you'll never believe wha' I found outside the van this morning," he says, smirking.

"Oh! You, uh, must've dr-dropped it or something," Hiccup stutters, trying to keep a lid on her panic.

"Slippery little bugger," Gobber agrees, pocketing the card. "What'd you get up to las' night?"

"Oh, you know, homework, TV, got some takeout," she lies. Gobber smiles, eyes twinkling.

"Right, well, go on, lass, off with ye!"

 **A/N: Alright! So, we are deviating from the plot, but oh well! Let me know what you thought, what I can do to get better, that sort of thing. Till next time!**


	15. The Kill Ring

**A/N: All right, so far, we're on track schedule-wise, but two does not a pattern make. Anyways, here's the next installment.**

Hiccup fidgets all day long on Tuesday, messing with the designs for a new saddle. Going off what she looks up on the internet, she has a pretty good plan for the Nadder. Still, she'd need to actually see it if she wanted accurate measurements.

She sees Aaron around, but neither say anything to the other, keeping a careful distance. Secretly, Hiccup's a touch disappointed, but she can't rationalize why. Just because you teach a boy to fly a dragon, it doesn't mean he automatically likes you.

After school, Hiccup takes her usual spot on the bottom row of the bleachers, god forsaken clipboard in hand. Without paying much attention, she marks off the attendance. Gobber comes up to her, squinting in the sunlight.

"Righ', listen up. We're doing a practice game, an' yer keepin' score, lass," he says. "Need to get these boys into fightin' shape."

"Right-o, captain," Hiccup drawls sarcastically, drawing a t-chart down the center of her notebook. Gobber rolls his eyes and stomps off, yelling directions for the football players. The boys jog off in opposite directions. Aaron and Rory are captains, shouting out commands.

Then, Aaron peels of his shirt.

Hiccup watches, thunderstruck, as muscle after muscle is unveiled. Aaron's tall and pale, looking like white gold in the sunlight in the early November sun. Rory shoots him a maniacal grin, crouching low.

The game starts then, so Hiccup has to focus on the ball, and not on the long, pale, muscular arm throwing it.

It goes relatively well, with Aaron's team in the lead, albeit, not by much. Rory pushes his team hard, revealing in his role as quarterback. Hiccup forces herself to focus on the game, tallying points. Gobber had given her a little cheat sheet with all the football rules on it at the beginning of the year, which is only just now making itself useful.

She shivers harder as the sun begins to set, thinking of Toothless waiting for her, itching to fly and get a chance to hunt. Hiccup surreptitiously grabs out another piece of paper and begins designing the basics of a flight suit, thinking about cold winter flights.

Finally, after what feels millions of years, Gobber blows his whistle, signaling the end of practice. Hiccup packs her stuff up faster than she ever has, stumbling out of the bleachers to hand in the score sheet and attendance.

Aaron catches her eye, frowning in a way that seems uncharacteristically nervous, to which Hiccup nods in agreement.

"Yeh ready for yer last class?" Gobber asks, startling her. Hiccup just about jumps out of her skin, stumbling back.

"Jeez! You scared me," Hiccup hisses. "But, yeah, I guess."

"C'mon, help me get things ready before class," he says, already stomping off.

"Yeah, more work," Hiccup mutters darkly, following behind. She wanted to catch Aaron before class, but Gobber seems to be working against them. At that thought, Hiccup gets the sudden fear that Gobber knows, and not for first time.

Gobber looks back at her, a twinkle in his eyes.

"Hurry up, lass! We need all the time we can get," he says. They stop off in Gobber's classroom and gather up documents into packets. Hiccup peruses some of the paperwork, but nothing really makes sense.

They're pamphlets for the DBDI, flyers for open houses, and FAQ sheets.

"Gobber, what're these for?" she asks, stuffing a set of papers into a large, beige envelope.

"Oh, you'll see lass," he answers cryptically. Hiccup rolls her eyes, finishing up her last couple packets. With that, she and Gobber take all their things out to the parking lot, where everyone's already gathered outside the van. Aaron's jaw is tight with nervous; it makes him look ten times scarier than normal.

"Last class, hell yeah!" Rory and Tori crow, breaking the silence and piling into the van. Immediately, the tension breaks, and Aaron and Hiccup share a smile.

Gobber takes them to the classroom one last time, unlike all the middle classes.

"Righ', so this class, as ye may 'ave guessed, this class isn't like the rest. Now, you're competing with yer other classmates to get the top prize, a full ride to the DBDI. All you've got to do is be the last one standing."

A silence falls over the class, each looking around uneasily. Scar's the first to recovers, shaking her head and flipping her hair.

"Whatever, that prize is totally mine," she declares, which sparks all sorts of declarations. Hiccup stays silent, mulling over this.

"Everyone's families are here, right?" she asks, voice hard. Gobber's smile falters, like he thought she might be pleased that she had an audience. Conversation picks up even more, people chattering excitedly.

"Alrigh', simmer down, pay attention. Listen to the rules. Everyone gets one weapon, but only to defend yourself. I'll be paying attention, making sure no one gets hurt. If you get checked, then you're out," he explains.

He leads them out to the arena, letting them file in one by one. Hiccup dawdles, like she can can stall long enough to get out of this. Aaron catches her eye, jaw set in a terrifying grimace.

"What's the plan?" he asks. Hiccup runs a hand through her hair, thinking wildly. The begins of a plan start to form, but it's not very good. Best case scenario, things turn out okay, meaning Hiccup avoids jail. She doesn't even dare to think of the worst-case scenario.

"The plan…" she steels herself. "Is to train a dragon." Aaron's stares at her for a moment, before letting out a strained laugh.

"You're going to what?"

"Whatever they have waiting out there, I'm going to train it." Her voice is resolute, but she feels like she's floating away from her body, going higher and higher until all she can see is a tiny speck of this stupid arena.

"That's insane—"

"It's not. I've got the most experience with the dragons. All I have to do is keep it focused on me, show everyone that it's not kill or be killed, not if it has a choice."

Aaron is silent for a long while, but before he can say anything, Gobber comes back in, waving at the two of them to hurry up. Aaron nods curtly as he passes, but Gobber catches Hiccup before she can go out herself.

"Heads up, yer da's out there," he says. "Make him proud, lass, I know you can."

Wild nerves flutter up, clawing at her throat. Her breathing comes in puffs, all the edges of her senses get fuzzy. Her father.

Still, there's a life on the line, a chance to change everything. There's no way she's going to let it pass.

She walks into the ring at last, taking her place in the center of the semi-circle they've created.

"Good luck," Aaron whispers. Hiccup wants to take his hand, hold onto something, but she doesn't.

"Thanks."

People fill in the stands, deadly silent. Her father sits in the first row, eyes on Hiccup. He looks damn proud. Hiccup lets herself savor the expression, because if she pulls this off, she won't see that look again.

Gobber stands in front of the crowd, explains what's going to happen, what the stakes are. Hiccup notices the Monstrous Nightmare's door rattle slightly. Great, she thinks sardonically, she going to have to do this with the angriest dragon.

Gobber climbs up into the stands, tells his class to ready themselves. Some people have hammers, axes, daggers, but Hiccup holds a shield aloft. That's all she'll need. The door begins to rise, and before it's even up all the way, the dragon springs free, snarling and already on fire.

Distractedly, she notices that his fangs hook up out of his mouth. Weird.

The dragon charges and everyone scatters. The twins, fighting over a mace, are the first to feel the dragon's wrath. It hurls a fireball at them, and they only just manage to get a nearby shield up.

"Out, both of ya'" Gobber hollers, directing them to run to an open exit. Scarlett charges the dragon, hammer held aloft, like a damn Valkyrie, but the dragon bats her aside, she hits the wall, and Gobber's quick to yank her out as well.

The dragon roars, but it sounds more like a laugh. Hiccup rolls her eyes; at least one of them is having a good time.

Aaron moves fast, neatly dodging and tucking the attacks. Hiccup stays where she is, standing tall, like a challenge. The dragon, still chasing Aaron around, clocks her and stills, squinting its eyes. Monstrous Nightmares like to be the biggest and the baddest, and don't like it when there's someone unafraid of them. Hiccup gives it a little smirk and the dragon crouches.

The arena goes dead silent.

Hiccup sets down her shield as gently as she can, holding her hands up. The dragon, unsure what to make of this, sits back on its haunches.

"Hey," she says softly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Carefully, she steps forward, hand outstretched to meet the dragon. He considers her for a moment before dipping its head. Hiccup grins wildly, more confident in her movements, and strides towards the dragon. She sets a hand on his snout, trying not to wince at the intense heat coming off the creature.

 _No more._

"Yeah," she agrees. "No more."

"Stop the fight." Her father's voice rings out clearly through the arena, but no one makes a move. "I said, STOP THE FIGHT!" The dragon lurches backwards, looking at Hiccup with betrayal in its eyes.

"Wait!" Hiccup screams, but it's already too late. The dragon rears back, blasting a fireball right at the ceiling. Everyone screams, trying to get out of the way of falling debris. The dragon takes flight, and only then does Hiccup notice the shackle around its thick ankle. A heavy wave of disgust rises in her stomach.

 **A/N: So, we're getting into the thick of things! Let me know what you thought, but see you guys next time!**


	16. Ready the Ships

**A/N: Shit's hitting the fan yo, but I'm sorry for being late, I had an assignment due last night but it's done now! Enjoy!**

In a relative sense, things were going fine. So, a dragon had blasted a whole through the roof of the DBDI, one of the most secure buildings in the world, no biggie. So, Hiccup had just outted herself as a traitor, not a problem.

All hell truly broke lose when Steven Haddock jumped the divider with a _sword._

The sword is longer than Hiccup's entire body, broader than one of her legs, glinting madly in the combined light of the sun and dragon fire. Steven swings it with such expertise that Hiccup momentarily thinks he's been born in the wrong decade, that he should have been a Viking chief or a Welsh king instead.

She'd been so frozen in her thoughts and the unfathomable idea of her father with a sword that she misses him take aim, and only realizing his mark too late. The sword cuts into the dragon's flank and it screams, an enraged sound. Hiccup scrambles forward, throwing herself in between the dragon and her father.

"Wait! Don't hurt it, wait!" She screams. There's fury in her father's eyes that she's never seen before, a righteous anger that can only come from revenge.

"Step. Aside." A huge part of Hiccup's brain yells at her to move, to listen to her father for once, but the remaining thinks about Toothless.

 _Toothless._

She feels him like an ache in her bones, persistent and permanent. She's doing this for him.

"No." She doesn't raise her voice, or flinch when her father screams, a wordless shriek of all his frustrations. "They can be taught. They want to learn."

"You don't know anything! You have seen what I've seen! If I don't put that dragon down right now, millions will die!" Steven insists, yelling loud enough that the whole of Berk could probably hear him.

"I've seen what they can do, dad, with my own two eyes. They don't want to fight, we're making them," she explains with a calmness she can't justify.

 _Toothless._

Steven doesn't lower his sword, instead, shoving his daughter bodily behind him.

"I'll deal with you later," he growls, taking his aim. The Nightmare lights itself on fire once more, preparing for a battle.

Before anyone can strike though, there's a blast like a lightning bolt, heat slicing through the air. Everything lights up blue for a second.

Toothless.

Hiccup watches in absolute terror as her dragon falls from the sky, clawing at the air to right himself.

"NO!" Hiccup screams, pushing herself to get to him, but it's too late. He's already assessed the scene before him and decides that he has to protect Hiccup. Steven stands before Toothless, dumbstruck. No one's ever really seen a Nightfury before. Toothless opens his mouth, letting a fireball build in his mouth, violet light glowing impossibly bright.

"STOP!" Hiccup throws herself in front of her father. "Wait, he's my dad, wait!" Toothless shuts his mouth abruptly.

 _Threat?_

"No threat just let me make this right, everyone, please—" The Nightmare chooses that moment to let out a near lethal blast, throwing everyone off their feet. Sardonically she thinks, _what a bitch._

Toothless blasts at the Nightmare, and it tries to fly to avoid the attack, only to get caught on its chain. Toothless hesitates, looks to Hiccup.

It's the pivotal mistake.

Steven lunges, launching himself onto Toothless, who buckles under the weight. Suddenly, all the DBD officers follow his lead, tackling the poor dragon to the floor. Hiccup is aware she's screaming, but she can't hear anything, just a persistent ring in her ears. She tries to get to him, but something catches her around the middle, holding her back.

She throws her elbows back, scratches at her captor, but nothing works. Dimly, she's aware of the Nightmare being dragged back into its cage. Hiccup watches, immobile, as Toothless is bound and dragged away, a look of resignation in his eyes.

 _Safe. You are safe._

No, Hiccup disagrees, not without you.

Steven turns to her, a snarl on his face and immediately she's released. Aaron, who'd been holding her back, steps quickly to the side, breathing harshly. There's blood dripping down his arms.

Steven grabs his daughter by the arms and drags her off, Hiccup stumbling to get her feet under her. Her protests go unheard.

He takes them to a conference room, slams the door so hard the hinges rattle. Hiccup takes a few ragged breaths, gripping the edge of the table.

"I should have known! I should have seen the signs!" he rages, pacing back and forth.

"Dad—"

"We had a deal!"

"I know we did, but that was before I met him, you have to understand, everything we know about them is wrong!" Hiccup protests.

"Everything in class, the way you excelled, all of it was a lie? A trick?" Steven doesn't hear a word his daughter says, and Hiccup's so sick of it, but then she thinks of Toothless, strapped down and scared.

"I screwed up, I should have told you before, Dad, but please don't hurt him, be mad at me, but don't hurt him," Hiccup pleads. Steven stops abruptly, looking at Hiccup with incredulity.

"The dragon? You're worried about the dragon? Not the people you almost killed, kids that go to your school?" It's a deadly question.

"He was just protecting me, I swear, he would've backed down, but you didn't give him a chance—"

"THEY"VE KILLED HUNDREDS OF US!" Steven rages, but Hiccup can't back down, not now.

"AND WE'VE KILLED THOUSANDS OF THEM!" The old Haddock fire rages in her veins, makes her feel powerful. "They defend themselves, they raid us because they have to! If they don't bring back enough, they'll be eaten themselves. There's something else on that island, Dad, something no one's ever even heard of—"

" _Their island?"_

"Did I say island, I meant—"

"So, you've been to the nest!"

"Well, I mean, it's hard to explain—"

"Where is it? How did you find it?" Steven demands. Hiccup steps back, suddenly afraid.

"People can't find that island, Dad, only a dragon could. Toothless took us—" She breaks off at the look in her father's eyes. She's seen it a million times, the wild look that would propel him into a proposal writing frenzy.

"Oh, no, no. Dad, no! Dad! It's not what you think! You don't know what you're up against! It's like nothing you've ever seen!" Steven doesn't listen, pulling out his phone and dialing.

"Dad, please! I promise you that you can't win this one!" His conversation is quick, and the panic welling up inside Hiccup leaves her dizzy. Steven strides out of the room purposefully, but it takes a minute for Hiccup to follow.

"No! Dad, no! FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, WOULD YOU PLEASE JUST LISTEN TO ME!" Steven whirls around fast, blocking Hiccup's path.

"You've thrown your lot in with them. You're a traitor. You're not my daughter." Devastation hits Hiccup hard, and she slumps against the wall. All her life, she knew Steven thought of her as a nuisance, a walking disaster, but never once had she doubted his love for her. Now though, it feels like the floor has been yanked out from under her. Defeat sits heavy on her shoulders.

Steven walks away without looking back and it's painful enough for Hiccup to feel it in her body. She sits for who knows how long before the sound of tanks rouses her. She hurries down the hall, looking for a window. Eventually, she finds a balcony.

Down the road, a tank with Toothless strapped to the front of it leads the way. Her father settles of top of it, bent low towards her dragon. She watches until tears blur her vision entirely.

"It's a mess," says a voice from somewhere behind her. Hiccup jumps, turning to find Aaron, leaning on the door jamb, frown in place. "You must feel horrible. You've lost everything. Your father, your best friend."

"Thank you for summing that up," Hiccup snaps. She's not mad at him though, not really. She drops her head into her hands. "Why couldn't I have killed that dragon in the first place? It would have been better for everyone."

"Yeah, it would've. Any one of the rest of us would've done it, so why didn't you?" Aaron says, coming over to stand by Hiccup. She shrugs, carding a hand through her hair.

"I don't know, I couldn't," she says petulantly. Aaron raises an eyebrow.

"That's not an answer." Suddenly, Hiccup can't stand him. How dare he look so calm in the middle of all this chaos?

"Why is this so important to you all of the sudden?" she demands. Aaron looks her dead in the eye, expression severe.

"Because I want to remember what you say right now." Hiccup throws her hands into the air, frustrated.

"Of for the love of—I was a coward, I was scared, I wouldn't kill a dragon!" Aaron smiles, a little quirk of his lips.

"You said wouldn't that time," he points out.

"Whatever! I wouldn't! A thousand years and I'm the first Haddock who wouldn't kill a dragon!" A heavy silence passes before them, Aaron rubbing his neck awkwardly at her outburst.

"First one to ride one though," he offers. "So?" Hiccup sighs heavily, remembering the look in his eyes the first time she saw him.

"I wouldn't kill him because he looked as frightened as I did," she says. Her poor Toothless, all alone, strapped up like a damn trophy. "I looked at him, and I saw myself."

"I bet he's really scared right now," Aaron says. "So, what're you going to do about it?"

Hiccup thinks about flying, loose in the sky, unshackled and free. She thinks about the dragons in the training ring, heavy chains holding them down. She thinks about her friends, Aaron and his Nadder, the twins reckless fearlessness, Fiona's all-encompassing dragon knowledge, and Scar's need to be with the cool kids.

"Something stupid probably," she says, smiling a little. Aaron mirrors her.

"That's a start," he says, pleased. "But you've already done that."

"Something crazy, then," she decides, plan clicking into place. "But I need your help."

"You know you have it," he replies easily. "Just tell me what you need."

"Rope, lots of it. Gobber's passcode, or maybe your mom's. A hell of a lot of charisma," she says, steeling herself with a deep breath. Aaron's grin turns wicked when he realizes the plan.

"This is going to be dangerous," he says.

"Absolutely. And totally treasonous," Hiccup agrees.

"We could die," Aaron counters, beaming now.

"It's only fun if you get a scar or two out of it," Hiccup says. With that, the two of them head off. Hiccup calls Fiona anxiously, barely explaining herself and demanding that she bring everyone and meet her in the training ring, _now!_

In the training ring, Fi, the twins and Scar wait for her, all looking nervous.

"If you're planning on feeding yourself to one of the dragons, I'd recommend the Gronkle," Fiona says, her own little version of an ice breaker. "I saw you with that dragon. It was going to listen to you, the Nightmare. How'd you do it?"

"I'm going to show you." Hiccup gestures to the fallen saddle, a harsh reminder of the injustice Toothless suffered.

"Those were you 'new additions' huh?" Fiona gives her a wry little smile. "Please tell me you're doing intensive research."

"I'll let you look through all my notes," she promises. Tori nods suddenly, like she has any idea of what's going on.

"You were wise to seek help from me," she starts, before he brother roughly slams into her, taking her place in front of Hiccup.

"You're crazy," he states, grinning wolfishly at her. "I like crazy." This is when Aaron decides to show, shoving his bundle of rope into Rory's arms.

"So? The plan?" he reminds her. Hiccup grins at her friends, even Scar.

"Welcome to dragon training."

 **A/N: Things are popping off! Let me know what you thought and I'll see you guys next time!**


	17. Battling the Green Death

**A/N: I'm on a roll, kids, we're going to wrap this whole puppy up on schedule. Either way, this is the last Hiccup chapter for a bit, for obvious reasons.**

Convincing the humans to ride dragons was the easy part. Convincing dragons? That was hard, especially when the dragons in question had been holed up as long as they had, with a deep-rooted fear of humans. Still, Hiccup tried.

The Nightmare was easy to convince. She cooed soft apologies at him, lowered her eyes, and looked at him deferentially. Finally, he put himself out and tipped his head. The newly formed second-degree burns on Hiccups hand were worth it.

"Scar," she calls. The Nightmare will need a strong personality, someone just as petty and annoying as he was. "This one's yours."

"What?" she squawks, flinching away. Aaron gestures, and apparently, that's all the incentive she needs. Scar flips her hair and struts up. Perfect, Hiccup thinks, a match made in Valhalla.

The Gronkle comes easily as well. Hiccup had tested her "dragon-nip" theory on him, so he likes her well enough. He can't communicate though, so Hiccup figures he must be young and hasn't learned how. Fiona takes to him like a fish to water, a name already prepared.

"Aw, Meatlug," she coos, rubbing his head.

Hiccup watches as Aaron carefully approaches the Nadder. He looks back at her too often though, so Hiccup smiles, gives him a thumbs up.

"Don't look at me, look at her," she instructs. Aaron nods once, takes a deep breath, and steps up again. This time, with his attention focused on the Nadder, he earns her respect, and she ducks to nuzzle Aaron's cheek.

The Zippleback is hard, mostly because it just wants to mess around, making it (they?) a perfect fit for the twins. They each claim a head immediately, clambering on before Hiccup can give any further instructions.

"Uh, guys, I don't think—Rory watch out!" Rory slips sideways, but his dragon head catches him, a fond expression in its eye, before flipping him back on. Rory lands a little awkwardly, but he smiles through a wince.

Hiccup talks them through the finer points of dragon flying like she's got any idea about it, then helps them all up. They use the ropes to tie the riders on, all with the exception of Hiccup, who climbs up on the Nadder, her saddle in hand.

"Let's ride!" They kick off, a shaky formation with all the dragons fighting for the lead spot. Eventually, Hiccup gets them to follow Aaron's Nadder.

As they get closer, more and more dragons fly past them, each more panicked than the last. Hiccup get the Nadder to charge ahead, flying straight for the source of the fear. The Zippleback twists around itself anxiously, knocking their riders' heads together. The Nightmare sets itself on fire, miraculously avoiding killing Scar, who still complains about her singed hair.

That's when Hiccup sees it.

The dragon is bigger than the mountain it came from, clambering around like some movie monster. Hiccup can hardly imagine that it's real, let alone that it's mad and probably wants to eat them.

Aaron leads the descent, while Hiccup calls out to the others, they dip far too low, whizzing past the DBD agents. Hiccup can see her father, dumbstruck below them.

"Rory, Tori, watch your backs!" she yells. Tori ignores her completely, pumping her arms up and down.

"Look at us!" she screams. "We're all on dragons!"

"Up! Let's move it!" Hiccup commands. Vaguely, she wonders if this is how her father feels. "Fi, what're we looking at?"

"Heavily armored skull and tail made for bashing and smashing! Steer clear of both! Small eyes, but large nostrils, so it relies more of smell and hearing!" Fiona calls, flying shakily. Still, the Gronkle, Meatlug corrects her every mistake with care.

"Okay, so Scar and Fi, hang in its blind spot, make it confused!" Hiccup yells. The two nod, directing their dragons over. Scar flies like she's some sort of street racer, but Fiona flies with the sensibilities of an 87-year-old lady. The twins are still flying around shrieking, so Hiccup gets their attention.

"Rory, Tori, find out if this thing has a shot limit! Make it mad!" The twins are eager, but as predicted, a fight breaks out over who's more annoying, each twin insisting that it's them. Hopefully, that'll just work in Hiccup's favor. She scans the island desperately, finally noticing the boats. The tanks must've been loaded up on them when they'd run out of land.

"There!" Hiccup says. "Drop me off and go help the others!" Aaron touches down jerkily and Hiccup leaps off, saddle in hand. Aaron hesitates for a moment, unsure of who to help. Hiccup nods at him aggressively. "Go!"

She forces her way onto the boat, finding Toothless fighting against the bonds. He smiles when he sees her, and Hiccup's heart threatens to break.

"I'm going to get you out of here, bud, I swear," she promises. Toothless dips his head.

 _Safe now._

Of course, this is when the first shot flies through the air and hits the boat fifteen feet from Hiccup and Toothless.

Well, Hiccup thinks, at least Rory and Tori and doing their jobs.

The boat sinks fast, but still, Hiccup works to free Toothless. There's panic flaring up in his eyes, which is doing nothing to help Hiccup. Water rises fast, rushing up past her ankles, her calves, her hips. Toothless, still strapped to the tank, doesn't float, and plunges straight into the icy depths. The saddle floats back to the rocky shore.

Hiccup's fingers are going numb with the cold but still she tries. She's got almost all of them except for the heavy steel wrapped around Toothless's neck. Things are getting darker and quiet, fuzzier on the edges. Her lungs beg her to open her mouth and she feels like…

Suddenly, Hiccup's being thrown through the surface of the water, arms first onto the rocks, she chokes and sputters, spitting out water and trying to fill her desperate lungs. Steven crouches over his daughter, fear and concern filing his eyes in equal measures. He pauses long enough to make sure his daughter's alive before diving back in, harpoon in hand.

Hiccup waits anxiously for her father to come back up, all the pain from earlier vanishing. He cares, he loves her, and the best part? He accepts her.

The surface breaks again, this time Toothless dragging her dad up. He deposits him on the shore, where Steven takes a few helpless breaths.

"Dad?" Hiccup asks, scared. Toothless tries to wiggle the saddle over his back. "You got it bud, hang on."

"Helena," he rasps, sitting up. "I'm sorry… for everything."

"Yeah, dad, me too." She helps heave her ginormous father up and together, they secure the straps of the saddle into place. Hiccup clambers on, stepping into the familiar peddle.

"You don't have to go up there," Steven says suddenly, desperate.

"We're Haddock's, occupational hazard." She answers, smiling wryly. She doesn't want to go up there either, but if she doesn't, no one else will. Steven grabs her hand.

"I'm proud to call you my daughter," he says resolutely.

"Thanks, dad." Hiccup kicks off, flying fast to join the fight. Somewhere in the distance, she hears Gobber cheer "Get down, it's a Nightfury!"

Hiccup surveys the damage. The Nightmare hovers awkwardly, Scar abandoned on the huge beast. Aaron, shouting commands, spots Hiccup.

"She's up! Get Scar out of there!" The Zippleback, being pulled in two different directions, spirals wildly. Hiccup dives under to catch the twins if need be.

"I got her!" Rory yells, urging his head one way.

"No, I got her!" Tori yells, jerking her head the other way. In the Zippleback's confusion, it spirals out of control, slamming straight into the Nadder, knocking Aaron off the dragon.

"Go!" Hiccup yells, guiding Toothless into a dive. "Got him?" Toothless looks down, then conveys the image of Aaron, hanging upside down and unharmed. They fly low enough to drop Aaron off, then head straight for the beast.

She and Toothless buzz around the dragon's head like an annoying insect, giving everyone else a chance to get to safety.

"This thing has wings," Hiccup says. "Let's see if it can use them!" Toothless shoots fireballs all over the beast, dodging and weaving as it swipes at him. In that moment, they fight as one, Toothless and Hiccup sharing one subconscious, moving in tandem. The great dragon rears its ugly head, letting loose another blast.

"Think that did it?" They fly high above the dragon, well out of reach. Enraged, the thing launches off, spreading wings larger than football fields. "Well, now we know it can fly."

They careen wildly, avoiding another swipe of its huge claws. Hiccup notices little tears in the dragon's wings and grins; she's got a plan.

"Okay, Toothless, time to disappear!" Toothless lets out a blast and flies right through it, hiding in the darkening clouds. They hover for a moment, waiting for the giant dragon to catch up. When Hiccup can see its shadows in the clouds, not too far off, she and Toothless fly towards it. "Come on bud!"

"Here it comes!" The thing can see them now and gives chase. "Come on, come on!" The fly faster than they've ever flown, making sure to stay within blasting range. If it would only open its mouth.

It shrieks, then chases them straight up, clawing at them wildly. One claw catches on the tailfin, and suddenly, their time gets a lot shorter.

"Okay, time's up. Let's see if this works," Hiccup says, urging Toothless to climb higher. They need the people below to be out of the blast zone.

"IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO?" Hiccup screams, goading the dragon. "Come on Toothless, just a little longer. Stay with me, bud, we're good."

The giant dragon wrenches open its maw, gearing up for another shot. Hiccup can see the gases building the base of its throat but it's not enough.

"Hold, Toothless," she warns, watching the noxious looking gases build. "NOW!"

Toothless spits out a wicked looking fireball, burning so purple, Hiccup can barely see it. Still she can feel its searing heat from here. It hits the gas cloud and time seems to slow down. Hiccup watches, amazed, as the fire spreads, climbing up the terrible dragon's mouth, spreading into its throat. She watches as the holes in the wings begin to expand, blackening then catching aflame. A bright, throbbing energy engulf the beast, and for a split second, Hiccup can taste victory on her tongue. Toothless works desperately to keep them away from the explosion, but without his tailfin, he won't last.

The dragon explodes.

The first thing that hits her is the heat, licking all over her body, hotter than she's ever felt. She might scream, she can't tell. They begin to plummet and Toothless tries desperately to correct them. The carabiners, weak from the strain and the heat, snap, and Hiccup is thrown into the burning air, falling faster than she ever thought possible.

A combination of heat and rushing air drain her consciousness, but she fights to stay awake. Toothless needs her. Suddenly, she feels a sharp and terrible pain, vicious and demanding. The edges of the world go dark fast and the air around her quiets.

 **A/N: Okay, we we've reached the climax of the story! I've got a few move chapters planned out, just to straighten out the aftermath of such a world-changing event. Let me know what you thought! See you next time.**


	18. Where's Hiccup?

**A/N: Look at me go, getting things out on an (almost) actual schedule! I think this might be my longest streak yet, I'm counting this because it's only a day late. Anyways, we are revisiting Aaron's perspective, enjoy!**

Aaron watches as Hiccup goads the dragon into flying, wings like he's never seen flapping powerfully. The resulting wind is enough to push him to the ground, but he fights to stand.

"Aaron!" His father's voice makes him snap his head up. He scrambles towards it, slamming into his father. Suddenly, he's six years old again, sure that everything will be okay now that his dad's here. Peter Hofferson takes his son's face in his hands, inspecting for damage. "You're alright?"

"Yeah dad." Just then, the Nadder, his Nadder runs up, intent to protect her boy. She snarls at Peter, tail up, ready to strike. "Easy girl, it's alright."

"This thing will listen to you?" Peter asks incredulously. Peter lowers his fighting stance slowly when he sees Aaron stroke the Nadder's snout. She nuzzles into Aaron, relieved he's okay.

 _Safe now._

Aaron gasps at the thought, foreign in his head. It's strange, like hearing a sound that wasn't there, a phantom word, a bodiless voice.

"Yeah, girl, for now," he says, looking up at the sky. People are gathering in clumps to watch the dark sky. Lightning flashes, but Aaron's sure that's just Toothless's fireballs.

"You rode that dragon into battle," Peter says, like he's trying to process what the hell just happened. Aaron can understand; it's been a pretty crazy day.

"We don't have to hurt them," he says, thinking of Hiccup. "If we respect them, they'll be loyal, they won't hurt us."

"But all the raids," Peter counters. "All the farms that've been torn up."

"All because they needed to. That thing, that giant dragon, controls them somehow. It makes them raid farms, bring back food. The dragons don't even get to keep anything for themselves."

Peter looks at the Nadder—Aaron really needs to think up a name fore he—and shuts his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. He lets out a sardonic laugh.

"My son, the dragon rider. Your mother's going to lose her mind," he says. Aaron grimaces, but he'll just deal with things one at a time.

"But not you?" he asks, stepping protectively in front of his dragon. Peter shakes his head.

"Today, I saw Chief Haddock dive into a lake to save a nightfury. I'll believe anything right now."

"Hofferson." Both Aaron and his father look up, standing a little straighter as Chief Haddock approaches them.

"Sir," replies Peter.

"You and the dragon riders lead people back, call an emergency conference. We need to get to the white house immediately." Peter nods, already moving, but Aaron stays put.

"I'm staying here, I won't leave Hiccup." Chief Haddock shakes his head.

"You're the best flier after my daughter. People are going to need proof of this… dragon thing," he says. Still Aaron doesn't budge.

"Fiona can do it. She and her dragon are already bonded, sir. Hiccup might need me up there," Aaron argues. Chief Haddock sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face.

"Don't you damn kids ever do what you're supposed to?" he grumbles. Before he can say anything else, there's an explosion like a bomb in the sky, making everyone jump.

"Helena," Chief Haddock mutter, searching the skies. "Please, Helena."

Then he sees her.

Aaron can make out the silhouette of a girl, limbs akimbo as she falls. Time slows, and he watches in horror as Toothless misses her, snapping his jaws and trying to catch her with outstretched claws. He does manage, however, after the sixth or seventh try to catch onto her foot, but something's wrong, they're both falling too fast.

Everyone's rooted to their spots, too stunned to move.

Chief Haddock's the first to break, racing to ahead to where she's falling. Ash falls heavier and heavier, obscuring their vision. Aaron tears off after him.

"Helena!"

"Hiccup!"

People are starting to move, to form a circle around where Hiccup and Toothless fell. Chief Haddock and Aaron push through the crowd, but they can't see her. There are mountains of ash everywhere, a dismal, gray needle-in-the-haystack search. Bile rises in Aaron's throat. Chief Haddock calls desperately for his daughter, each cry more and more agonized. Peter catches Aaron around the waist holding him tight. Gobber burst through and helps dig too, calling for Hiccup.

One of the lumps begins to move. Everyone goes silent and Chief Haddock dives for it, digging wildly. Aaron goes still and stiff in his father's arms, breathing harshly.

Slowly, the lump rises, shaking the ashes off to reveal Toothless, his features pinches with fear and pain.

"Please," Chief Haddock begs. "Please, I can't lose her." Aaron knows he shouldn't be watching, but he can't turn away, desperate to know if Hiccup is alive. He shudders at any alternative.

With great effort, Toothless lifts one of his wings, uncurls his limbs and lets Hiccup drop into her father's arms. Aaron's heart stutters at the sight of her, streaked with ash, limp, head lolling uselessly.

Chief Haddock presses his head to her chest desperately, and everyone goes still and silent until he pulls up, sobbing in relief.

"She's alive," he cries. "You brought her back alive." He presses a hand against Toothless's face. "Thank you."

Gobber helps gather Hiccup up, then steps back, a funny look on his face.

"Well," he says. "That's most of her, I guess."

Most of her? What the hell does that mean?

Aaron breaks free of his father's grasp and rushes over to chief Haddock.

"Hiccup, is she…" he peters off, but gulps and tries again. "I need to know she's okay."

Chief Haddock gives him a hard look before nodding, lower his arms just enough to see Hiccup's face. Carefully, Aaron presses two fingers against her neck to find a weak pulse, barely there, but undeniably _there._

That's when Aaron notices her feet.

Well.

Foot.

She's only got one foot.

"Oh, Toothless," he sighs, realizing what happened. He calls the Nadder over, and together, they help the downed dragon to his feet. "I'll have to fly Toothless back, sir, he can't fly without a rider."

"Tha's what she was doin' all that time in the smithy," Gobber mutters, shaking his head. "Unbelievable."

"Fly him where?" Chief Haddock asks, shifting Hiccup in his arms. "She needs medical attention now. I'll fly."

Toothless lets out a pitiful sound, raising his tail and Aaron gasps. The tailfin's been shredded, completely torn apart. There's no fixing it here.

"Never mind. Toothless's tailfin is ripped, he can't fly." The Nadder nudges Aaron.

 _Strong enough, carry them both._

"Sir, you can fly with me. I can get to a hospital faster than we can get a chopper out here," Aaron says, frowning. He doesn't want to risk dropping anyone though, but he trusts his dragon.

"Right," Chief Haddock agrees, looking nervous.

"I'll bring the Nightfury back," Gobber volunteers. "What's it called?"

"Toothless," Aaron answers, smiling sadly. He crouches in front of Hiccup's dragon. "We have to get Hiccup out of here, okay. She'll be safe with me, I swear."

 _Promise?_

This voice is different, not so much in tone but in feel. The Nadder feels like a thunderstorm, alive and dangerous, but also calming. Toothless feels like inky black nights and electricity.

"I swear," he repeats. Toothless nods then and allows Gobber to lead him onto the remaining ship. They take as many people as they can, while Scar, Fi, and the twins take the leftovers to lead them back.

Once everyone's on the Nadder, Aaron takes off, asking her to fly carefully. They make it back to Berk quickly but gently, and Aaron proud to think he's getting better at this. He thinks of Hiccup and her impressed expression. He thinks of her challenging eyes. We should race, she'd say, knowing full well she had the faster dragon. Aaron would agree anyways.

Understandably, once they land outside Berk General Hospital, there's a huge commotion. People aren't accustomed to seeing a dragon this close. The police show up remarkably fast.

"If any harm comes to this dragon or the boy, you'll answer directly to me," Chief Haddock growls before running into the hospital. Aaron stays with the Nadder, more than willing to defend her if he needs to.

The police mark out a perimeter, telling him to stay in it with the dragon. Aaron listens, one hand on the Nadder's neck. She soothes him, giving him images of safety, a warm meadow filled with sunlight, a group of Nadders all in a circle grooming each other. A calmness settles over him.

Aaron's not quite sure how long he's been out here, but the sun has set a long time ago and the Nadder is getting agitated.

"Yeah, I know, girl, I'm sorry," Aaron mumbles. They're curled together in the parking lot. There are news crews everywhere, but Aaron refused to talk to a single one.

"Aaron!" Peter and Ingrid run towards him, flashing their badges at the police. Ingrid stops short at the sight of the dragon, who jumps up immediately, ready to defend her boy.

"God," she shudders. "Aaron, what have you done?"

"Easy girl," he says to the Nadder. "That's my mom." The Nadder shows him images of eggs, of little hatchlings breaking through. He nods.

Peter takes a cautious step towards the pair, placing a hand on Aaron's shoulder.

"We just got back. HQ has called a meeting with the president and congress, but right now, I don't think I can get you out of here without you being arrested," he says apologetically. "Chief Haddock made it in okay? His little girl's okay?"

"She's… still alive," Aaron says. "I don't plan on leaving anyways." Peter nods.

"We'll be back in the morning, alright, just hang on," he says.

"Wait, what about the others?" Aaron asks. Peter sighs.

"Detained at the Institute. Some of those dragons are hurt, and Gobber's trying to do what he can for them," Peter explains.

Ingrid steps forward suddenly, pulls her son into a tight hug.

"It'll all be alright," she says. For some reason, Aaron believes her.

 **A/N: Alright, so the worst is over, it can only get better from here! Let me know what you thought, and I'll be back same time next week!**


	19. Coming Back Around

**A/N: Okay, so we're coming up to the last of the story now, about two chapters left and an epilogue. Y'all are getting this a little early just because I'm going to be gone all weekend and won't have access to my computer. Enjoy!**

As it turns out, hanging out in a hospital parking lot with a Deadly Nadder is never a good idea. The Nadder, irritated, throws spikes when a news crew gets too close, so Aaron tells her to fly, to meet him later.

A Deadly Nadder lose in the sky is also a bad idea.

Panic strikes when the Nadder hunts on this side of the boarder, and Aaron can just hear Hiccup's voice.

 _Oh, great. This is exactly what we needed, the press playing Godzilla 2 on fox news._

It takes Aaron going up into a chopper with his dad to herd the Nadder back into the institute, where the other dragons and the rest of the group is.

"Oh, finally!" Scar cries when she sees him. "I thought we were getting arrested without you." Aaron shakes her off and turns to Fiona.

"It's not that bad," she assures him. "Where's Hiccup?"

"Hospital, probably in surgery or something. Her foot didn't exactly… survive Toothless," he explains, frowning grimly. Fiona sighs, shaky, pressing her finger tips to her eyes.

"She's going to be okay, right?" she asks, voice small.

"Yeah, she is," he assures her. "My dad's getting things straightened out right now.

"Wait, what about my dad?" Scar asks, face going pale. "God, was he out there? I didn't even see him."

"No one's told us anything," Tori says, hanging upside-down from her dragon.

"People come by to drop off food or take us to the bathroom, but they don't say anything," Rory adds, lounging on the back of his dragon.

Aaron takes a seat next to his dragon, leaning against her. She trills softly at him, conveying images of soft rain, drizzling soothingly. Aaron loses himself in the comfort, trying to Hiccup out of his head.

He must pass out, because when the door swings open, Aaron jerks to find the sun streaming through the hole in the roof dimmed down. Fiona's sitting across from her dragon, petting his head and trying to take notes one-handed. Scar's pouting, clutching singed hair, while the Nightmare rumbles out a laugh. The twins are passed out, slumped on the necks of their dragon, the dragon itself taking turns to catch the twins as they slip.

Peter walks in, holding a tray laden with food. The teens all jump to attention at the food, rushing over. Ingrid comes in as well, dragging to coolers over to the dragons, dumping out the contents on the floor. Fish spills out, disappearing fast as the dragons descend. Aaron grabs a sandwich and wolfs it down.

"So, what's going on?" he asks. Everyone quiets to listen.

"First, off, Helena's fine. She's in some sort of coma right now, but she's fully expected to wake up, but no one's sure when. While the Chief's occupied, Scott Jorgenson and I are going to be taking over." Peter turns to Scar. "Your father's coming to get you in a little while."

"I'm not going anywhere without my dragon!" The Nightmare menacingly behind the cheerleaders, who's got both hands on her hips. "Hookfang and I are bonded!" He huffs in agreement, accidently setting fire to Scar's hair. She pats it out with a resigned look.

"Barf and Belch need us!" Rory complains. "Where's our mom, though?"

Aaron grimaces at the names for the Zippleback, but he didn't expect any better. Besides, they sort of fit. He looked to his Nadder, thinking hard.

"You kids have to go home, but you can come back. We can't hold you here and you can't trespass, but the law doesn't say anything about visits," Peter explains. Ingrid leads them out, but each teen stops to say goodbye to their dragon, making promises to come back.

Aaron leaves last, stopping to press his forehead to his Nadder's. he wondered if the communication thing worked both ways.

"I'll be back, okay? I have to go check on Toothless and see Hiccup, but I'll be back," he promises.

Outside, he follows his parents to their car, somber and silent. They drive to HQ, where Gobber was taking care of Toothless. All the other self-proclaimed dragon experts wouldn't go near him. There are huge black cars all over the parking lot, men with guns at every entrance.

"Washington," Peter explains, frowning. "Emergency meeting with the president and some cabinet members. I have to get in there in a minute, but your mother will take you to the Nightfury." Aaron nods, following when his mother leads him.

"How are you?" she asks, placing a hand on his shoulder. Aaron sighs, blowing some of hair out of his eyes. What a loaded question.

"I… don't know," he admits. Ingrid smiles sadly at her son, cups his face in comforting hands.

"You've been so brave so far, I'm proud of you," she says. "Although, I don't know how I feel about you keeping a Deadly Nadder as a pet."

Aaron shakes his head, a small smile tugging on his lips.

"She's not a pet, mom, she's my partner now," he explains. His mother goes silent, then gives him a blazing look.

"Have I ever told you the story of what happened in the field all those years ago?" she asks. Aaron nods, because he's heard this one over and over when his parents were trying to drill into him how dangerous dragons were.

"Before your father found me, this huge dragon got there first. He took one look at me, bruised and weak, and I thought for sure he was going to eat me. Instead, the dragon took me over a stream, close enough that I could get a drink. It… stood there with me, making sure I stayed awake," Ingrid recounts, shaking her head. "I think about that day a lot."

"They aren't evil, mom, they're incredible." Aaron can just hear Hiccup's voice, gushing over her Nightfury, praising his Nadder. He misses her like a hollow ache in his chest. Shaking his head to clear it, they walk into the room Toothless is being held.

"Hey, Toothless," Aaron says, holding a hand out. The hollow ache in his chest eases a little. Toothless presses his head against Aaron's palm, projecting an image of Hiccup. She's dripping in the memory, shaking but grinning wide.

"She's okay, she'll be alright, but we just need to wait," Aaron tells him.

"She'll be alrigh'?" Gobber walks into the room, setting a buck of fish in front of Toothless. The dragon eats but keeps its eyes on Aaron, waiting for a response.

"That's what I hear," he says, a little bitterly. Ingrid wraps an arm around his waist, leaning against him.

"That's where we're headed, once we finish here," she explains. Gobber nods, scrubbing a hand over his face. Aaron's eyes drop to his peg leg, unable to help himself.

"Tha' lass is tougher than anyone gives her credit for," Gobber says. "She won't let a little thing like missing a foot stop her."

"What do I do?" Aaron blurts. He runs an agitated hand through his hair and sighs. Toothless nudges his hip, a soothing gesture. Aaron never knew a dragon could look mournful.

"You jus' do what you've always done, support her," Gobber answers. "She'll do the rest."

Aaron spends a little longer with Toothless, promising to fly him once Gobber figures out the tailfin. The ride to the hospital is tense, so Ingrid makes them stop in the gift shop and pick something out to ease the heavy tension.

Clutching a get-well balloon, Aaron tentatively pushes open the door to her hospital room. It's dark, a single lamp casting an orange glow on Chief Haddock, who doesn't notice them come in.

"Chief Haddock?" Ingrid says softly, catching his attention. He jumps, the huge man getting to his feet. Aaron can't bring himself to look at Hiccup just yet.

"Come on in," he says, voice a deep, gravelly sound. He scrubs a hand over his face, gesturing for them to sit. Aaron takes a wooden chair in the corner, furthest from the bed. Hiccup's voice echoes in his mind, goading him. _Ooh yes, how terrifying, a passed-out girl! Bet you've never seen one of those before._

Aaron forces himself to look over and instantly wishes he hadn't. This whole situation hadn't seemed real until now, like if Aaron didn't see the proof, he could pretend that Hiccup was just hiding out somewhere.

She looks ghastly, deathly pale and unnaturally still. There's never been a single moment when Aaron had ever seen her completely still, always fidgeting with something or wildly gesticulating. There are bruises all over her face, scratches to match.

"It's just, the doctors don't know when she'll wake," Chief Haddock says suddenly. "They say she'll be alright, no brain damage of anything, but they can't think of why she won't wake."

"Come on, Chief, let me get you a cup of coffee," Ingrid says, taking his arm. He nods tiredly and allows himself to be lead. Aaron watches them go, then turns to Hiccup awkwardly.

"Uh, hey," he says. Blushing bright crimson. This is so stupid, sitting here talking to a coma patient. "Toothless is fine, by the way."

There's a heavy silence.

"The rest of us are fine too, but they made us all leave the training ring. We left the dragons there, but we can see them when we want to." Aaron clears his throat, gets up, and sits in the chair closest to the bed. He picks up one of her hands in his, hating that it's dead weight, but needing something to hang onto.

"I miss you like crazy, which is dumb because we've only hanging out for a few weeks, but I do…" he trails off then, pushing his hair out of his face. Carefully he smooths out her fingers against his hand, noting how much smaller her hands are. 

"Gobber found all your plans and schematics in your shed, by the way. He's going to try and build Toothless a new tail fin. You guys will be a matching set," he continues. The door opens again and this time it's Gobber, looking surprised to see him.

"Where's the chief?" he asks, coming over to clap a heavy hand on Aaron's shoulder.

"My mom took him to go get coffee," he explains, gently setting Hiccup's hand down.

"Don' have te stop on my account," Gobber chuckles. "It's good for the both of ya'. Never seen her with more than Fiona before, so having you lot around will be good, once she wakes."

They both fall silent, the implication heavy in the air. When she wakes, Aaron thinks. When, not if.

"Tha' dragon o' hers is a real handful," Gobber says, and Aaron thinks it's mostly just to have something to say. He understands though. Hiccup's always been the one to fill all the empty spaces in a room, with her unending stream of chatter, or her wild, flailing hands. They're not used to silence like this.

Aaron can only pray it won't last.

 **A/N: Let me know what you thought! I'll be back in seven days times.**


	20. Sticks and Stones

**A/N: Okay, so there's one more (actual) chapter after this, but this is the last one in Aaron's point of view! Enjoy.**

A lot can happen in twenty-one days. Laws can be changed, emergency world summits can be called, protests and support rallies can be had. Twenty-one days passes, the world emerges changed, and Hiccup Haddock lies still in her hospital bed, no change to her state.

Aaron's made a sort of daily routine now, to deal with everything happening. First, he wakes up super early, loads up on coffee, takes the gang and Toothless flying, then goes to school. There, he endures his new celebrity status, fending off admirers and fanboys alike. After, he goes to hockey practice, working all of his frustrations off on the ice, playing harder than he has in years. Then, he goes to the hospital, working on his homework out loud in the hopes that Hiccup will just sit up one day and correct him or something. Finally, he goes home to his equally exhausted parents, who are trying to facilitate a changing societal view, and watches the news.

Most news channels just talk about the dragon revolution. Border defense has changed considerably, now in place to keep the dragons safe, and keep hunters and poachers out. People aren't allowed in without a valid dragon training license, and since the only expert in the world on dragon training is out in a coma, no one's been allowed in. Sometimes, reporters talk about him and his friends on the news, playing back videos of their morning flights. People think it's ridiculous that a bunch of teenagers are the gatekeepers of the dragons, people demand access. The beautiful thing is, no one in charge is listening to the people. Everyone's listening to Chief Haddock, brand new dragon advocate, on behalf of his daughter.

The huge, imposing man commands attention, respect, authority. The people's protests quell slowly as Chief Haddock explains it plainly. It's the first time that a politician has been telling the general public the full, unedited truth. The dragon's in the wild aren't pets, and they aren't just animals either. They're intelligent creatures who have their own way of dealing with things, and they've been here much longer than people have.

Of course, the news about the dragon dies down in the parts of the world that aren't directly affected, like the countries close to the equator. They put their new dragon laws in place and move on. It's a beautiful thing. However, countries that share a border with the dragons are completely different. Debates are had, laws are created and abolished in the span of hours, politicians are sacked and re-elected.

Today, Aaron finds peace from the changing world in a quiet hospital room, accompanied only by a comatose girl. He holds her hand without apprehension, and doesn't let go no matter who walks in.

He works on a physics assignment, sorely wishing Hiccup was awake right now, because hydraulics makes no sense to him.

"Aaron?" He looks up to find Chief Haddock coming in, dressed immaculately in a suit.

"Hey, chief," he greets. "Long press conference?"

"You would think, since all the policies are public record, journalists would read them first," he says crossly, dropping into the arm chair on the other side of Hiccup's bed. "How's she doing?"

"No change," Aaron says. "A doctor's supposed to come by soon, he wanted to talk to you."

"Did they say about what?" Aaron shakes his head, setting aside the unfinished physics assignment.

"Right," sighs the Chief, rubbing his temples. "I'm off to fetch dinner. You want anything or are you going home?" It's meant to be a pointed question, but the dynamic between them is strange. He's not her boyfriend, not technically, so the Chief doesn't know how to treat him.

"I'll head off. Call if anything changes, sir," he says, dumping his things into his bookbag. He'll finish the rest later, maybe Fiona will help him. The Chief nods and with that, he heads off. Nurses wave to him as he goes, all sympathetic for him. He decides to take a detour, take Stormfly out. He's finally named his dragon, and he thinks it suits her perfectly.

He stops at the training ring, which has been hastily renovated into a stable, to find Fiona, simultaneously playing with her dragon and taking notes.

"Hey, Fi," he calls. The blonde startles, dropping her notebook.

"Hey! Did you just come back from Hiccup's?" Fiona is the second most frequent visitor Hiccup has, stopping by when she can to talk dragon notes. She'd never minded a silent audience.

"Yeah, no change though," he says, talking out his saddle and opening Stormfly's door. She makes her way out, stopping to nudge his shoulder, her typical greeting. Aaron saddles her door while Fiona waits by Meatlug, to make sure he doesn't fly away while Aaron opens the roof-access.

He takes to sky effortlessly, loving the way the air tastes like freedom. They climb high, moving steadily north. Stormyfly can sense his frustrations, the low ache that's built over three weeks of no change, so she flies him hard, makes it a challenge.

They touch down an hour later, both tired from the flight. They're in a little clearing full of terrible terrors, all preening. Aaron shoots a text to his mom, relaxes for a few minutes, then they take off again.

This time, Aaron's much calmer, able to think clearly. They take to the skies again, this much more smoothly. Aaron drops Stormfly back at the training ring, tipping a ton of fish into her feeder.

Aaron checks on each dragon, spending a little extra time with Toothless, before he heads home.

"Aaron, sweetheart, there's a message for you," his mom calls the second he walks in the door. She herself is on the phone too, presumably to some dignitary. Apparently, the chief had called, and left a message saying to call him back ASAP. He does, dialing the familiar number and waiting.

"Aaron," says the chief, in lieu of a greeting. "There's been some news."

"What?" he asks, instantly alert.

"So, the doctors are saying that her condition is completely confusing, that she should be up by now. She's not on any support. It's like she's just asleep," he explains. Aaron exhales in relief, but then backtracks.

"Wait, why won't she wake up then? If she's totally fine?" Aaron paces around his living room aimlessly, avoid his father, who's running a similar path. His parents have had phone calls for every night for weeks now, different officials every time.

"No one's sure, but the doctors are letting me bring her home, this weekend," he says. "I thought you could help, maybe bring the dragon around. It might wake her."

"I'll be there," he says, heart in his throat. There's a sharp excitement rising up in his chest, anticipation that makes his breath come in sharp pants. He can almost hear Hiccup's voice. "When?"

"Two days from now, they're saying." They work through some more logistics, when Aaron should come by with Toothless. After the phone call, Aaron tries to work through some homework, but focusing on derivatives seems particular futile now.

The next morning, Aaron barely needs the coffee he downs, buzzing with anticipation. He gets to the training ring early, filling up the throughs with fish.

 _What's going on?_

Stormfly's voice in his mind is a little jarring, because while she can communicate almost flawlessly, she seldom does it.

"Uh, Hiccup's coming home," he explains, feeling a little silly talking out loud. Instantly there's a rattling in Toothless's stable. Smiling, he opens the door, dodging as Toothless barrels out, looking for his rider.

He looks up at Aaron with wide, imploring eyes, confused as to why his girl isn't here.

"Not yet," he says. "You'll see her soon. Few more days."

"Hiccup's up?" Rory and Tori, for once in their lives, are early. They're dressed almost identically, white Henley's under black biker jackets. Rory wears his hair long nowadays, loose around his neck. It's the only way to differentiate the two; Tori wears hers in chucky, asymmetrical braids.

"No, not yet, but the Chief's bringing her home. I'm going to bring Toothless around, maybe he'll help wake her or something," he says casually, downplaying the nerves fluttering wildly in his stomach.

"Hiccup's coming home?" Fiona rushes towards him, Scarlett trailing in her wake. The cheerleader works to hide her smile, but it's easy to see the relief on her face.

"Finally," she drawls. "Talk about sleeping in."

"Saddle up guys," Aaron says, ignoring Scarlett's little comment. She's been better recently, not hitting on him like she did. Aaron suspects it's because of the horde of dudebro's that follow her every move. Something about a hot chick on the back of a vicious dragon.

Aaron much prefers insane redheads who think they can train the world's deadliest dragon.

They take to the sky, and filled with hope, everyone busts out their best moves, making bets on who'll impress Hiccup the most. Aaron rides them hard, going through every move in Hiccup's notes. He'd raided her shed last week, in a moment of loneliness and desperation, to feel a little closer to her. He'd stumbled upon her notes, filled with moves and maneuvers.

Throwing himself into dragon training has been the only thing keeping him together. If he works hard, gets better, Hiccup will be impressed with him when she comes back. When. Not if. When. The distinction is very important to him.

He flies the riders until the very last minute, touching down twenty minutes before first bell. From there it's a wild scramble to get everything put away. Barf and Belch cause an explosion, which riles up Hookfang, leaving Scarlett with singed off eyebrows.

Aaron hustles them out of the institute, all of them piling into their cars. They speed through the streets, driving like they fly. Aaron is immensely glad there isn't traffic in the clouds.

From there, Aaron's caught in a haze of anticipation and excitement. He eats, he flies, he sleeps. Toothless is right there with him, matching him mood for mood. He even sends some thought's Aaron's way, images of Hiccup from his eyes. He wonders how young Toothless is.

Finally, the day of Hiccup's homecoming arrives. Aaron takes his set of Haddock house keys and charges on ahead, doing some last-minute dragon proofing. There's mail all over the countertops, all addressed to Hiccup. They're mostly acceptance letters from colleges, far too early. Thanksgiving hasn't even passed yet. Still, it makes sense. Hiccup's probably the only person who can put dragon trainer on her resume.

There's a knock on the door, breaking the reverie Aaron was caught in. He hurries to the back door, finding Gobber and Toothless. The dragon looks way bigger in a doorway.

"Hey, let's get him inside. We're supposed to handle him while the Chief brings Hiccup." They set Toothless up in the living room, which has been cleared of all furniture, save Hiccup's bed.

No sooner than that, the garage door opens, and it takes both Gobber and Aaron to hold Toothless back from pouncing. The chief walks in, pushing Hiccup, who's strapped to her wheelchair. Aaron's heart immediately leaps up into his throat at the sight of her. She looks devoid of life, all the things that make her vibrant faded. Her hair, a fiery auburn, looks dull. Her skin is ghastly, her cheeks hollow. Most of all, she's entirely still.

Carefully, the Chief scoops her up, and Aaron helps settle her into the bed. A nurse is supposed to be by later to insert her feeding tube.

Toothless pads over, making a mournful noise. He noses Hiccup, nudging at her shoulder. Aaron looks away, feeling like he's intruding on a deeply private moment. Toothless gives up, settling his huge head on her stomach.

"Now what?" Aaron asks. He can't even bring himself to be embarrassed about the thickness of his voice, full of unshed tears.

"Now," the chief says heavily. "We wait.

 **A/N: And now, onto a turning point. Let me know what you thought, and I'll be back, keeping the schedule on track to finish this out.**


	21. The Viking's Have Their Tea

**A/N: Okay, I just want to say a quick thank you here, for everyone who read and commented. This chapter was a little harder to finish out, so sorry for the lateness. There will be some sappy feelings in the end note, so feel free to skip those if you want. Anyways, back to Hiccup.**

There's an overwhelming heat all around.

Smoke and fire.

A scream.

Nothing.

Everything.

Colors Hiccup's never seen before.

Freedom and desperation like she's never felt.

Hiccup comes into consciousness before her body, but she figures it's just the result of her nap. Her limbs feel heavy, some sort of blanket heavy on her rib cage. She struggles to open her eyes. Warmth comes and goes in great, wet puffs, but it smells like dragon fire and fish. It reminds her of Toothless.

 _Come back now._

What? Come back from where?

 _No more sleep. Awake now. Please._

Hiccup struggles to answer, the voice deeply familiar. She can't place it. Everything is so confusing and she…

Nothing.

The next time Hiccup comes back into herself, she's freezing. She wants to get up, grab another blanket or something, but her body won't cooperate.

She's back in the nothingness before she can ever try to get up.

The third time she's aware of herself is the strangest and most self-aware she's ever felt. Hiccup can feel everything but can't place any of it. She fights to blink.

Suddenly, light floods her eyes and her living room swims into view. Hiccup blinks uncertainly, trying to turn her head, but she can't quite make it.

 _Hiccup!_

Toothless, she thinks. He needs her, he's captured, and he needs her! How is she supposed to save him if she can't even get up?

There's an overwhelming pressure on her stomach, and it makes her squirm. There's something in front of her, big and inky, smelling like heat and ocean.

Toothless.

She registers his eyes before anything else, big and green, like little planets.

"Toothless!" she rasps out. Her voice is basically nonexistent, a raspy whisper. Still, the dragon coos and nudges her face. Shaking, Hiccup brings her hands up to touch him, grounding herself with the feel of his smooth scales, the heat burgeoning under his skin. "Hey bud."

Hiccup struggles into a sitting position, fighting against a tugging on her arm. There's an IV there, buried in the crease of her elbow. She stares at it, contemplating ripping it out. She decides against that one fast; she doesn't like needles.

"Hiccup?" She jerks up to find her father and Aaron standing in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen.

"Dad?" Immediately the panic begins to rise. Toothless is here, she needs to protect him—

What is that incessant beeping?

"Down Toothless, let her breathe," her father instructs, swatting at her dragon affectionately. Toothless does and Hiccup's jaw drops. She's dead, she thinks offhandedly. She's dead and this is the afterlife, her dad, her dragon… and Aaron.

Steven rushes her, wrapping her up in his massive arms. Hiccup goes limp until he releases her.

"Talk to me, lass," he begs.

"Um," she starts. "What's happening?" This incites another hug. She's so confused; doesn't her father kind of hate her at the moment?

"I could never hate you," he whispers, leaning back. To her horror, Hiccup realizes two things. One, she said that last part out loud. Two, her father is _crying._

"Wait, what happened? I don't remember anything, everything is so jumbled up…" she trails off, trying to string together at least the sequence of events.

"You don't remember?" Aaron asks. Hiccup startles, she'd almost forgotten about him.

"Uh, no," she mumbles, batting at her hair, trying to smooth it into place. She can feel the beginning of a blush overtaking her cheeks.

"Anything?" he asks, voice strangled. "Do you remember anything? About teaching us to fly and taking the dragons to fight the red death?"

"The red what?" Hiccup asks. It feels like someone took a movie of what happened, cut it into chunks, and blended it all together. She gets small burst of coherent memories, but mostly, it is phrases out of context, pictures with no explanation.

"They're calling it the red death. The Alpha dragon we fought," Aaron explains, coming closer.

"He, uh, might know a little more than I do, love," Steven says, running a huge hand over her hair. Belatedly, Hiccup recognizes it as an affectionate gesture. They come too few and too far in between.

"What happened? Was I out?" Hiccup looks around the room, hoping for some sort of clue as to what time it is.

"Yeah," Aaron says, chuckling humorlessly. "You were out."

"How long," she asks distractedly. She had her phone in her pocket, she remembers suddenly. It must've fallen out. "I think I lost my phone."

"It's been almost a month," Steven answers. Hiccup turns to gape at her father.

" _A month?"_ She hisses. "I feel totally fine!" With that Hiccup swings her legs down, ignore her father and Aaron's protests, determined to show them she's fine. Her feet hit the ground solidly.

Wait.

Something's wrong.

Hiccup looks down and immediately looks back up. Nope. This isn't happening. This is some strange dream. She's dreaming. Or, says a particularly wicked voice in the back of her mind, she's dead and this is hell, perpetually embarrassing herself in front of her dragon, her father, and her… Aaron.

"Helena, I know you're confused but—"

"Where's my foot?" she asks, her voice ridiculously small.

"Sweetheart…" Her father's never called her that before. This is bad. This is so bad. Toothless rests his head on her lap and closes his eyes.

Her mind fills with a memory. It's her, hurtling through the smoke, her mouth open in a soundless scream, eyes filled with terror. Determination hits her like a truck and she—or Toothless, she guesses—hurtles toward her, jaw open, desperate to save her.

Her—or his—jaw clamps down on her foot, the tang of copper filling her senses. They fall wildly, careening faster and faster.

Hiccup jolts away, gasping, and instantly, her father and Aaron are by her side. Aaron takes her hand, which is wholly distracting.

"You all right? What happened?" her father demands, clutching at her shoulders.

"Ow, dad, let me go, I'm alright, I promise," she says hurriedly. Toothless coos sadly at her, uncertain. Right, this is fine. Everything is fine. Hiccup lets more weight fall on her foot and tries to stand.

"Hang on, easy, Helena, wait!"

"Hiccup, damnit, hang on!"

"Everything's fine!" Hiccup declares, right before she falls over. Toothless catches her, carefully depositing back on the bed.

"Now that you're up, we can talk about physical therapy," her father says gently. "Let's just take things slow, okay? Nice and easy."

Hiccup nods, because it makes sense. They get her back in bed, where Hiccup is supposed to rest for a while, which seems redundant, but she falls asleep fast.

The next few days are strange. People come through the house, her friends, admirers, and even the odd politician. Steven holds back as many as he can, but Hiccup feels better with company than she does all alone in a hospital bed set up in the living room. It's strange; this is the first time she's ever wanted to be around people rather than by herself, even if it is uncomfortable.

The silver lining, however, is pretty intense. The long and short of it is that dragons, once feared and shunned, are now respected and intriguing. Laws are changing, minds are opening, and society is evolving.

It's absolutely crazy to think about.

She's been meeting with physical therapists and engineers, and together, they've crafted a prosthetic that will fit with Toothless's saddle. Sure, it doesn't look like a foot, but Fiona gushes about it, saying it looks cool. Rory hits on her ruthlessly, and some of Hiccup's favorite come-on's have been "robot babe" and "cyborg hottie". Needless to say, Aaron had "words" with Rory about it.

Today's supposed to a big day, however. She's been working with her physical therapist, a quiet woman called Dr. Gothi, and today, Hiccup's been cleared for light physical activity, like walking around without her crutches, and maybe a light and easy flight. The walking part's becoming easy, Hiccup getting plenty of practice being independent at home.

"Hey," Aaron says, jolting Hiccup out of her thoughts. He's been by a lot in the last three weeks that she's been awake, helping with PT, taking care of Toothless, and helping her catch up in school. "You ready to go?"

"Ah! Oh, hey, I wasn't—you're a bit early," Hiccup stutters. Talking to Aaron has been getting easier and easier, but sometimes, she still feels like that same little nobody he used to pass in the hall.

"Yeah, figured you'd be ready," Aaron says, going red. Things can get weird between them, but after everything Hiccup's been through, she's okay with not leaping into anything immediately. Aaron drives her to the institute, where Toothless, her friends, and their dragons are all waiting for her.

Hiccup insists she walk by herself, and she manages to make it to the training ring with no problems. Dr. Gothi is pretty surprised, apparently this is one of the fastest recoveries she's seen.

"Welcome back!" Hiccup stumbles back into Aaron's arms at the onslaught of excitement. Fiona wraps her up in a tight hug, her blonde ponytail swinging wildly. Tori hugs her too, smelling like dragon fire. Rory wraps an arm around her shoulders and marches her towards the dragons. Barf and Belch twist around each other to say hello, Meatlug ambles up to nudge her hello, Stormfly nuzzles her cheek as gently as a Nadder can, and even Hookfang says hello, much to Scarlett's annoyance.

Toothless is the most excited, but he knows to be careful with Hiccup. She talks to everyone while they saddle up, catching up. Apparently, Rory and Fiona had a brief fling, but she dumped him after a couple weeks. Rory's fine though, much more interested in causing chaos with his sister and their dragon.

Hiccup pulls herself carefully, letting muscle memory guide her through. It's strange, just because every time she goes to move her left toes, she can almost feel it, but not quite. She wonders if that'll ever go away.

 _Ready to fly?_

Hiccup grins, shifting to unfurl Toothless's new tail fin.

"Let's fly, Bud."

 **A/N: And that's a wrap! I want to say thank you to everyone who read and commented, y'all kept me going when I lost inspiration to write. This is the first story I've ever actually finished! Let me know what you thought and tune in next week for the epilogue and some exciting announcements!**


	22. This is Berk

**A/N: Welcome back! Here's the final piece of this particular story, which takes place after the last episode of Defenders of Berk and the first episode of Race to the Edge. Enjoy!**

Helena Henrietta Haddock III, known to most as "Hiccup" (nasty kindergarten incident—she doesn't talk about it) sits at the top of cliff, sketchbook in hand and dragon at her side. She finishes the picture she's working on, a diagram of these cliffs about fifty miles north of the border. She stows the sketchbook and gestures to her dragon. They're supposed to be running a patrol, but Hiccup's already secured the perimeter.

In the past few years, she and her friends have dealt with traitors, barbarians, and berserkers. Shockingly, there are human settlements in dragon country, and now that the mainstream has been tentatively stepping into dragon country, the settlers haven't enjoyed it.

They have their own laws when it comes to dragons, not all of it good. Amazingly, Hiccup's been able to change a lot of people's minds. The people who she hasn't been able to convince are all safely tucked away in high security prisons, where they can't hurt dragons, or people, every again.

The biggest concern is Dagur.

She stormed into their lives with a flurry of blood, angry, and insanity, forcing her people into a war they didn't want. The people of Berserker island only wanted to be left alone. Some have migrated to the states, seeking asylum here, but the majority have turned back to their lives, only now with 100% less dragon killing.

Still, the US government insists that someone be out here to patrol their activity. Steven had volunteered her and her riders to do, which was fine with her. It was no secret that Hiccup was fascinated with the great unknown beyond the northern border, and now, she did get to explore a little.

She checks her watch, sigh when she realizes she's only got a few hours left to get to an urgent meeting. Her dad is holding it, but he wouldn't tell her what it was about, just that she had to make sure she was there.

"Come on, bud, let's roll," she says, smiling at her dragon. The nightfury, the most feared dragon in the world, is lazing in a patch of sunlight, smoldering slightly. He looks up at her, unimpressed.

"Move it, Toothless, we have a thing to go to," she reminds him. He stares her square in the eye and squints. Hiccup suppresses a grin; she's always loved a challenge. She pulls herself up to her feet—well, _foot_ —shifting weight on her prosthetic so the spring coils, ready to send her flying. For a moment, dragon and girl both still before the pounce. In the scuffle, Hiccup ends pinned under Toothless, who gurgles happily and slobbers all over her.

"Ugh, dragon drool," Hiccup complains, swiping as much of the slimy stuff off as she can. Not only does it stain things a faint green, but it's also highly flammable. Scarlett's had to get at least three emergency haircuts because of it, though Hiccup suspects Hookfang shows affection by lighting things on fire.

Hiccup and Toothless take off, flying fast. Hiccup loses herself in the feel of it, the wind rushing through her hair, the burst of cold as they blast through a cloud, the warmth of the sun as they glide.

They touch down at the Haddock house an hour later, and while Hiccup gets ready for whatever this thing is, Toothless gulps down his body weight in fish. After her shower, Hiccup stands in front of her closet, debating what to wear. She's not sure what one wears to an urgent, secret meeting, so Hiccup settles on a plain, green top and her nice brown dress pants.

You aren't technically allowed to ride a dragon in city limits, but Hiccup's got a special permit that says she can fly anywhere, as long as she flies well above the city. The flight to the institute is quick, and surprisingly, Hiccup's outfit holds up just fine.

They're supposed to be meeting in the stables, which is odd, but Hiccup figures her father probably wants her to introduce some politician to the dragons. The place is uncharacteristically empty, putting Hiccup on edge a little.

"Surprise!" Hiccup stumbles back from the doors of the training ring, taking in the scene before her with shocked eyes. All of her Riders are here, and even some of her new friends have shown up. There's a huge banner across the back wall, reading "Happy 20th Birthday!" Hiccup feels her throat close up and happy tears spring up into her eyes.

"Happy birthday," Aaron says, walking up to her purposefully. She throws her arms around her boyfriend of two years.

"Did you do this?" she asks, jerking her chin to the party. Even the dragons are wearing party hats. Aaron nods, deeply satisfied. Hiccup rocks up on her toes to kiss him, properly.

They've been doing this for a while now, but each kiss feels like the first. Hiccup feels heat flare through her like a wildfire. They separate, but Hiccup clutches his shoulders, for balance. Aaron cups her face, looking at her fondly.

"Okay, alright, enough with the PDA," Scarlett complains. "but happy birthday, or whatever."

Hiccup laughs, then goes around the room, giving everyone a hug and thanking them. The party picks up, music spilling from Rory's mammoth speakers. Fiona pulls out snacks and they all take turns tossing them at their dragons. It's honestly, the best time Hiccup's had in a long time.

This is Berk, she thinks fondly. The weather here is tough, but the people here are tougher still, sticking by her side no matter what. Her friends are the true definitions of ride-or-die's, following her into danger without a second thought, just because there's something to fight for here.

She wouldn't change anything for the world.

 **A/N: Okay, so that's ACTUALLY a wrap! But fear not, because a sequel is coming! I'm going to be encompassing ROB and DOB into another story, spanning the two years in between chapter 21 and the epilogue. The name is TBD, but it is on the way! Also, I'm aware some people weren't exactly thrilled with the lack of romance in ISFHS, but the sequel will have more than enough to make up for it! See you guys on the flip side!**


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